


Camp Revolutionary

by gwenstcy



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Camp AU, Gen, High School AU, Lams - Freeform, M/M, Mention of abuse, Modern AU, mullette, no graphic details, non binary lafayette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-05-07 04:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5442929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenstcy/pseuds/gwenstcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Laurens has gone to Camp Revolutionary every summer since he met his friends Hercules Mulligan and Lafayette there. Now that they are all seniors in high school, it's the last year of camp and John has the perfect plan to make it the best year ever, but then Alexander Hamilton appears and changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. arrival day

**Author's Note:**

> Who doesn't love Lams? And your favorite revolutionary crew at camp?!

John was ecstatic. It was almost summertime, and that meant seeing his best friends, Lafayette and Hercules. John lived in South Carolina, Hercules lived in New York, and Lafayette lived in France so they never got to see each other during the year. They were eight years old when they met at Camp Revolutionary, and they’ve attended every summer since, just to see each other. Unfortunately, this year was their last year as they were all seniors in high school. John had the perfect plan as to how to make this last summer the best, he wanted it to be unforgettable, because who knows when he would see his friends again? 

One week later, John found himself driving through the mountains towards Camp Revolutionary. It truly was beautiful, a light cover of fog blanketing the rocky structures as John’s Mustang climbed up and up. Finally, he saw the faded wooden sign, announcing that he was in Camp Revolutionary. A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth as he saw the massive mossy lake that covered whatever area that was not green grass hills, stretching on forever. He saw the main hut and the cafeteria, where all the campers were signing in. Many were top heavy and overpowered by their large duffel bags; they were obviously new campers. John recognized a couple of people, but Lafayette and Hercules were nowhere to be found. 

“Heh.” He laughed lightly. “Probably late, that wouldn’t be a surprise.”

John finally found a place to park his car amid all of the crying mothers and embarrassed children, and got in line to check in. As he approached the front of the line, he recognized the counselor that was checking him in as Charles Lee. John snarled inwardly and narrowed his eyes at the counselor. Charles didn’t seem to notice, or at least, chose to ignore it.

“Mr. Laurens! What a pleasure to have you back. It’s your last year isn’t it now?” Charles drawled. His voice was annoyingly high pitched, with a southern drawl, and a hint of sarcasm that was not easy to catch, but of course John did.

“Drop the niceties Charles, I don’t forget what happened last year.” John slighted.

Charles was a camper last year, and the year before that, and so on. Him and John had never gotten along, but John had finally had enough of Charles’ snide comments and invited him to join him on the “dueling ground”, a sacred spot at camp where a soldier in the revolutionary war had actually laid down his life protecting his honor. Obviously, the duel did not end well. Charles had ended up with a broken nose, and John had escaped unscathed, but not free of punishment. He was forced to stay in his bunk for 3 days, with nothing to do but daydream by none other than George Washington, the head counselor of camp. 

Charles gave a nervous laugh but said nothing else other than “You’re in Cabin Yorktown.” in a quiet voice.

John took enormous pride in the horrified look on Charles’ face, and even caught him rubbing his nose concernedly as he walked away.  
“Heh. Serves him right.” John muttered as he left the sign in desk and walked out into the crisp mountain breeze. It felt good to be home.

John was so busy enjoying the scenery that he backed into none other than George Washington. Feared by many, and respected by all, George ran Camp Revolutionary with an iron fist. 

John slowly turned around and gazed up at the wall that was Mr. Washington. John gave him a nervous smile and Washington’s features softened into a genuine smile. 

“John Laurens. How are you?” His deep voice resonated so much that John could feel it in the pit of his stomach. 

“I’m better now that I’m here sir.” John answered shakily. He never was comfortable with adults, especially men like Mr.Washington. Men that could easily hurt him. 

Washington grinned and clapped John on the shoulder. “As am I son. I believe your friends are too from the looks of it.”

John gasped. “They’re here?”

Washington laughed at John’s shocked expression “Why yes they --”

But John had already taken off to the cabin as fast as he could with a massive smile on his face. His curls had let loose from the ponytail keeping them out of his face, and they were flying everywhere, bouncing with every step he took. 

This was it. The moment John had been fantasizing about for months. It was finally here!! He had missed his friends something terrible, having barely any contact with them throughout the year. John’s father was a strict man, and did not allow cell phones, so John could only write letters. Beautiful, heartfelt, elaborate letters that took an excruciatingly long time to deliver. John rarely got a letter from Lafayette, since the mail service from South Carolina to France was slower than anything you could imagine. He received letters from Hercules more frequently, but while Hercules was gifted in many areas, writing was not one of them. John could barely even read the letters most of the time, as the handwriting looked like a child just learning how read and write, and if John somehow deciphered the words, the grammar was always so horrific the letters didn’t even make sense. Of course, John appreciated the effort, he just felt, left out sometimes. He knew Hercules and Lafayette both had cell phones, and was envious of the fact that they could easily contact each other day or night, while it would take weeks for a message from John to reach them. 

John didn’t have that many friends at school, he was too “radical” for South Carolinians taste. In his eyes, he was standing up for what he believes in, what’s important to him, but everyone else sees it as “starting trouble” or “causing a ruckus”.  
Summer at Camp Revolutionary was literally what he lived for, seeing his best friends, connecting with nature, and just getting away from his life. 

Finally, John appeared at the door of the decrepit cabin, flustered and out of breath. He could hear Lafayette’s thick accent from behind the door, and Hercules’ deep laugh at something they said. John’s face was completely lit up with excitement, his smile reaching all the way to his eyes as he threw open the door.


	2. the new kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John meets Alex!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter that I would have liked it to be, but I am out of town the next couple of days so I wanted to update before I left :)

The door flew open with a squeak as Mulligan and Lafayette curiously looked up. John’s smile grew, if that was even possible and he let out a happy sigh. Lafayette squealed and leaped down from the top bunk with the grace of a ballerina, which incidentally, they were. Hercules grinned and immediately attacked John with a bear hug, knocking both of them to the ground. They both laughed and Lafayette using all of their strength to pull John and Hercules up. 

“Mon ami!” Lafayette pulled John closer by his cheeks and gave him a quick kiss. 

Hercules jumped back into the hug, and they all stood there together, John the happiest he'd been since...well, since last summer.

After a full minute of bliss, they pulled apart. 

“We missed you man! How are things?” Hercules bellowed. Hercules only had one volume, and that was, in musical terms, fortissimo. 

“Ah, I missed you both so so much.” John grinned and then hesitated, should he tell his friends now? No. He had plenty of time for that later, now he was happy and wanted to stay that way.

“Things are good. What about you guys? What's been happening?” John said as convincingly as he could, but his friends didn't notice the small break in his voice, they were too excited.

“Well, ma chère, Hercules just presented these lovely shirts he made for us!!!” Lafayette gestured to their flowy hand-sewn tank top, the words “Revolutionary Crew” embroidered on the front. 

Lafayette beamed and Hercules blushed and smiled at the ground. Huh. John had never seen Hercules show any signs of embarrassment before.

“I've been working on them for months.” Hercules smiled and held up his hands, covered in minor wounds. “Hand sewn.” He added and held up a t-shirt for John. 

John grinned and had that warm feeling inside of him he rarely felt, that he was loved. He immediately grabbed the shirt and changed into it, Lafayette whistling in his shirtless stage. 

“I love it Hercules. You're incredible with a needle and thread.” John was moved, it was so nice to be cared for.

“Isn't he?” Lafayette smirked and casually kissed Hercules on the cheek.

Hercules obviously didn't find it “casual” though as his eyes widened and he moved away from Lafayette. 

That was odd, John thought and decided to lighten the mood the only way he knew how.

“Yo yo what time is it?” John bellowed.

Hercules and Lafayette instantly grinned at each other and joined in with “SHOWTIME!!” 

“Yo yo yo I'm John Laurens in the place to be, My best friends with me and this is going to be  
The best summer in Camp Revolutionary history!” 

And on the friends went rapping, eventually embodying their revolutionary personas.

When the friends first met at camp, they all found its rich history fascinating, and started pretending they were in the revolutionary war, as children do. It's now tradition every year to do the same, and John had been writing lots of plotlines in the past couple months. Yes, it does seem pitiful but immersing himself into his writing allowed him to believe his life wasn’t so bad. 

So there they were, Lafayette rapping as fast as they could, leaping across the bunk beds while Hercules and John jumped on the beds screaming “LAFAYETTE!” in the background.

 

It was at this moment that the door creaked open, but of course the boys didn't notice with all of their yelling.

Suddenly, George Washington was in the doorway with a boy about the same age of the revolutionary crew.

Still, the boys were enveloped in the revolution, and Lafayette proceeded to jump from the top bunk all the way to the floor, landing right in front of the doorway.

"Uh..Bonjour Mr. Washington, what are you doing here?" Lafayette asked, completely out of breath.

John and Hercules immediately stopped yelling, and peered down from the top bunk at the scene going on below.

"Hello Lafayette, I'm here because we have a new camper, Mr. Alexander Hamilton." Washington gestured to the boy standing beside him.

John shifted his glance from Washington to Alexander and felt his breath catch in his throat. Even though he couldn't see Alexander very well from this angle, John already knew that he was the most beautiful specimen he had ever had the pleasure of laying his eyes on. His dark hair was pulled back into a hasty bun, and he had a very slight figure, but excellent posture, to disguise the fact that he was only 5"4. John immediately felt the urge to hold him in his arms...no. No. John needed to contain himself. He hadn't even met him yet.

"Alexander, Je m'appelle Lafayette." 

"Bonjour Lafayette, il est agréable de vous recontrer." 

Damn. Alex could speak French. John was helpless. He felt like he couldn't move as Hercules shimmied down the ladder and raised his eyebrow at John. John realized it'd be weird if he just stayed where he was, so he sighed and climbed down the ladder after Hercules. 

"Where did you learn to speak French??" Lafayette asked excitedly.

"Uh.. School." Alex lied. 

After a brief moment of silence, Mr. Washington spoke up. "Alex will be staying with you this summer. I expect you all to be kind to him and include him. I know you all have been friends since you were kids and this is your last year, but I believe you will all get along." 

They all nodded and Lafayette nudged Hercules. 

"Oh- I'm Hercules mulligan." After a glance at John's awestruck look he added, "This is John. He's a little shy." 

Alex met John's eyes with a kind gaze, and John could see constellations. He never wanted to turn away. 

"You're an incredible rapper man." Alex said to Lafayette.

"Lafayette isn't a man. They are non-binary and use they/them pronouns." Hercules jumped in defensively.

"Oh I'm sorry. I respect that, I just call everyone man." Alex smiled and John melted. 

"I'm going to the bathroom." John awkwardly ran into the small stall and slammed the door. What was wrong with him?! He was normally able to hide his emotions, but they don't make them like that in South Carolina. Alex had caught John's eye, with his looks and intelligence, and now John was acting like a fool. He needed to redeem himself. He glanced at himself at the mirror and fixed his crazy curls. There. At least he was presentable now. 

"You got this John. And what's the harm? You're only here for the summer anyways." He whispered to himself before opening up the door and walking into the room with a new mindset. 

"Hey Alex, have you seen all of camp yet?" John asked, keeping his voice level.

Alex looked surprised to hear John speak. "No, not yet." He smiled slightly.

"Allow me to give you a tour." John returned the smile, and hoped Alex would agree.

"I would love that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonjour Lafayette, il est agréable de vous recontrer. - hello Lafayette, it is nice to meet you.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Hmu on tumblr @herculesmulligon 
> 
> Also I loved the feedback I got on chapter one and would love to hear more since this is my first published work :) happy holidays!


	3. questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex takes john on a tour of camp revolutionary, but things don't exactly as planned...things heat up between lafayette and hercules back at the cabin.

John had left the cabin with Alex, leaving Lafayette and Hercules alone, looking confused about John's behavior. He knew there was going to be an intervention tonight. 

"So.. Where are you from?" John asked.

"Unimportant." Alex answered a little too quickly. "I'm here now." He added with a smile that made John melt.

"Uh.. Yeah.. I'm from South Carolina. It sucks." 

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I'm here now." John smiled and Alex smiled back, appreciating that John didn't pry. Alex had only recently moved to America, and many people were very opinionated about immigrants. 

"Will you be here all summer?" John certainly hoped so.

"Yes. It's very beautiful up here. I've never seen the mountains before." Alex looked wistfully around the green hills, searching for a better view.

"Well lucky for you, I know all the ins and outs of this camp, including the best lookout point." 

Alex was impatient as John led him and picked up the pace, his short legs moving faster than John's gangly ones. John laughed breathily at the look of determination on Alex's face as he passed him. Soon, it turned into a race, but unfortunately for Alex, he didn't know where he was going and John won. 

"That's...not...fair!" Alex said in between deep breaths.

"Maybe you're...just...slow!" John laughed.

Alex playfully pushed John and John of course, pushed back and they both fell forward. 

John hastily stood up, getting out of the compromising position they were in before he did something stupid. 

He wordlessly gestured to the view ahead and Alex was immediately entranced, and didn't notice John's deep blush. 

They both sat on the grass and stared ahead for a long time before either of them spoke.

"Why do you hate South Carolina?" Alex inquired, scaring John with the sudden break in silence.

"Well, I believe everyone should be treated equally, we are all Americans, no matter who we are, where we came from, or who we love. And I stand by that with all of my heart. No one agrees with me, or if they do, won't fight for it." John replied, not meeting Alexander's sorrowful gaze. 

"But...why..." Alexander sighed. America was different than he had expected. 

John finally turned to Alexander, who looked on the verge of tears. "It's wrong, I know. But I live in a small primitive town, not everywhere is like that. I hope to live in New York, it's so diverse there." Alexander still looked upset so John placed an arm around his shoulder. 

Alexander leaned into John's chest and they stayed that way, looking at the mountains in the distance. From that point on, John was helpless.

"Alexander.. You aren't from here are you?" John asked softly.

Alexander removed himself from John's chest, much to John's dismay, and turned to face him.

"I just moved here from a small island in the Caribbean. A hurricane destroyed my town." Alex responded so quietly John could barely hear him. 

Alex picked at the grass and John placed his hand over Alexander's.

"I'm so sorry." 

John was uncharacteristically at a loss for words and as the sun set, he remembered the opening ceremony was soon.

"C'mon. I know what'll cheer you up." John stood up and outstretched his hand. Alex took it and stood up, but dropped it as they started walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Cabin Yorktown, Lafayette and Hercules were sitting together on the top bunk, their legs swinging over the side. 

"What are you going to wear to the opening ceremony mon ami?" Lafayette asked.

"Um.. Probably just my t-shirt?" Hercules responded, but he secretly hoped Lafayette would choose an outfit for him.

"Oh ma chère, let's get you dressed up." Lafayette grinned at the prospect of making Hercules over. Hercules had always been too embarrassed before, but over the past year, he seemed to have become more comfortable in his own skin, and wasn't concerned about his manhood like he was when they were kids.

Hercules tried to suppress a smile, but he couldn't help it. "Yeah ok."

Lafayette clapped their hands and jumped down to the floor.

"Hercules, you are going to be gorgeous. Not that you aren't already." Lafayette winked and Hercules' stomach turned. 

Lafayette was already rifling through their suitcase, throwing out assorted colorful garments, and finally held up a light purple top that was slightly cropped, so it didn't cover the wearer's belly button.

"Oh this is perfect. It will compliment your skin so well." Lafayette grinned up at Hercules, who smiled nervously.

"Oh c'mon Hercules, get your ass down here!" 

Hercules slid down the ladder and Lafayette held out the shirt, as well as a pair of blue jeans. Hercules doubted he could fit into the pants, as he was stockier than Lafayette, but decided to try anyways. 

He looked at Lafayette, who gave him an encouraging nod, and proceeded to take off his clothes. He'd been working out a lot over the year, which Lafayette certainly noticed.

"Since when did you have abs like that?" Lafayette raised an eyebrow.

Hercules hastily threw on the top.  
"I uh.. I've been working out." 

"I figured that out by myself big boy." Lafayette grinned.

Hercules blushed and shoved his legs into the jeans. Once they got halfway up they wouldn't budge.

"C'mon, use those muscles!" 

Hercules pulled as hard as he could, but the pants were working against him. Thanks a lot pants.

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Lafayette sighed and walked around behind Hercules. 

"What are you doing??" Hercules exclaimed. 

"Relax big guy. I'm just helping." Lafayette slipped their slender hands into Hercules' belt loops and pulled.

"Join me?" Lafayette strained.

Hercules enclosed his hands around Lafayette's and they both pulled with all their strength, and slowly the pants curved up to finally cover Hercules' waist. Their hands lingered a little bit too long, and then Hercules immediately released and stepped away.

"You look spectacular." Lafayette smiled, but it didn't reach their eyes. Hercules had been pushing them away all day and it was really starting to bother them. Hercules was their best friend, but whenever they touched him, he looked disgusted. 

"Thank you." Hercules fumbled with the straps on the top trying to tighten them.

Lafayette held their hands out, but hesitated. "May I?" They gestured.

Hercules cleared his throat. "Of course. Please." 

Lafayette gently grabbed the straps of the shirt and pulled, their hands grazing Hercules' collarbone. 

Hercules shivered, but tried to contain himself. He could tell now that his behavior was becoming obvious. Hercules had never felt this way around anyone before, let alone Lafayette and he didn't know how to control it. What was this feeling? Whenever Lafayette touched him, he craved more, yet felt the instinct to shy away from them. 

"Hercules, mon ami, are you ok?" Lafayette looked deep into Hercules' eyes and it was as if they were peering into his soul.

"What do you mean? I'm great!" Hercules said all too quickly with a nervous laugh. 

"You've been acting weird all day...talk to me. We're best friends." Lafayette looked so hurt and concerned that Hercules wanted to tell them, he really did. 

"Honestly, I don't know what's going on. I just feel...weird." 

Lafayette sat down on the bunk and patted the space next to them. Hercules joined them and Lafayette held his hand. 

"Whatever it is Hercules, I'm here for you. What exactly are you feeling?" They stroked his hand gently and Hercules couldn't get over how pretty they looked in their outfit, and their hair loose in curls all around their face. How he wanted to just grab those curls and kiss those plump lips.

Wait a minute...  
Did he want to kiss Lafayette? Was he gay? But Lafayette isn't a boy or girl so what would that mean? Hercules was so confused, and felt the sudden urge to cry.

"Hercules.." Lafayette whispered.

"Lafayette, when did you find out you were non-binary?" Hercules asked.

Lafayette seemed surprised at the question. "Oh, well... I knew I wasn't a boy for a long time, or a girl for that matter, but didn't find out there was a  
word for that until I was 13." 

"How did you know?"

"Hmm. I guess the fact that sometimes I liked to wear dresses, sometimes I liked to wear basketball shorts and that I loved Barbies and super heroes equally. That's a simplified version, but as a child that's what really made me realize it." 

Hercules nodded and after a moment of silence, Lafayette spoke up. "Why do you ask ma chére?" 

"Just curious. And you're my best friend, so it's important to me." Hercules smiled.

Lafayette knew he was holding back, but didn't want to force Hercules to talk. They wanted Hercules to come to them when they were ready.

"Je vous aime Hercules." Lafayette gave his hand a squeeze and left the bunk to get ready for the ceremony.

Hercules had taken French at school last year, mostly so he didn't have to go on the Internet to translate his conversations with Lafayette, but he couldn't remember what je vous aime meant. He knew it was something meaningful... And then it hit him.

I love you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was really fun to write :)  
> I've decided that this fic is going to be half focused on lams and half focused on hercules and lafayette soo be ready for that  
> I welcome feedback and feel free to scream at me on tumblr @herculesmulligon  
> Also, things are gonna get a whole lot gayer soon so stay tuned


	4. coming out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john and alex get into a spot of trouble with jefferson... hercules spills a secret to lafayette

John was leading Alex to the throng of people gathering in the main area of camp and Alex seemed to be gaining back his normal enthusiasm.

"What's going on? Is there some sort of party?" 

"Better." John replied with a knowing smile. The opening ceremony was always one of his favorite parts of camp, and he couldn't wait for Alex to see.

John spotted Lafayette and Hercules over near the fire pit and led an excited Alex over.

"Wow Hercules...that's a nice top." John said questionably. He had never seen Hercules in anything other than a t-shirt and wondered what compelled him to change. It was probably Lafayette. Hercules could never seem to say no to them.

Hercules blushed and Lafayette smiled slightly. "Isn't he beautiful?" Lafayette gave a small sigh and looked as if they might touch Hercules, but refrained. Hercules blush grew deeper and excused himself to the bathroom.

"What was that all about?" John asked.

"I wish I knew." Lafayette looked wistfully at Hercules walking away. Damn, he looked good in those jeans. 

"So Alex, did you enjoy your tour?" Lafayette said brightly, changing the subject.

"Oui. John is a wonderful guide." Alex looked up at John with a knowing smile. John felt weak at the knees. Why did Alex have to be so cute?

"Ah. John looks absolutely touched." Lafayette snickered. It was obvious John had it bad for Alex, and Lafayette enjoyed teasing him immensely.

"Sorry what?" John had zoned out of the conversation, getting lost in dirty thoughts about Alex. He needed to pull himself together. Deep breaths John. But really, John knew he couldn't contain himself. Hey, better him thinking about it than actually doing something embarrassing.

Alex and Lafayette both laughed at John's perplexed expression as Hercules returned. 

"Lafayette, can I talk to you for a second? Alone?" Hercules asked quietly, looking at the ground.

"Of course ma chére." Then to John and Alex, "We'll be back." 

John and Alex were left alone, yet again, and waited for the festivities to begin.

"Thank you John for talking to me earlier. You know, you're the first friend I've made in America." 

John could've kissed Alexander's cute little face right then and there, and desperately wanted to, but settled with placing his arm around Alexander's shoulder.

"No need to thank me. I really enjoyed it. I'm very glad we're friends." 

Alex grinned and laid his head on John's shoulder, for the whole world to see. 

Hercules led Lafayette so that they weren't around any people, which meant they had to hike halfway across camp, but Lafayette wasn't complaining. They were glad Hercules was opening up to them, because they were worried. 

Ever since they were little kids, Lafayette and Hercules stuck together. Of course, John too, but Hercules and Lafayette seemed to have a special connection, an understanding of each other. When Lafayette told his friends he was non binary a few years ago, Hercules immediately made sure he called Lafayette by their correct pronouns and even punched someone who called Lafayette a freak. 

Finally, Hercules found a spot to his liking at the edge of the woods. 

"What is it mon ami?" Lafayette asked encouragingly.

"Well, there's not really an easy way to put it, so I guess I'll just come out and say it.." Hercules looked up at Lafayette who nodded encouragingly.

"I-I think that... That I'm... I might be... gay." Hercules looked up at Lafayette with tears in his eyes. He wasn't ashamed, just...scared. 

When Hercules was younger, he always felt the need to prove his manhood, because deep down, he always knew he was gay. He was surrounded by homophobic assholes though, so ended up acquiring a lot of girlfriends to try and suck the gay out of him. Needless to say, it hadn't worked. Of course, Hercules hadn't realized that was why he dated so many girls until just recently. When Lafayette came out to him and John, Hercules finally let go of all of his male bravado, slowly but surely. Heck, he was wearing a crop top! Lafayette made him feel comfortable in his own skin, and taught him that people might not understand or accept you, but the ones worth keeping will try, and love you nevertheless. 

Lafayette was completely shocked, that was the last thing he expected to come out Hercules' mouth. 

Hercules burst into tears after seeing Lafayette's facial expression.

"Oh Hercules..." Lafayette wrapped their arms around Hercules and they sank to the forest floor. Hercules cried into Lafayette's chest and Lafayette stroked his hair. 

"It's ok ma chére, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Lafayette whispered to Hercules, their lips brushing against his ear. 

Hercules looked up at Lafayette who gave him a warm smile, and continued to stroke his hair. Hercules slid into Lafayette's lap. He wanted to touch them, Dear God he wanted to touch them. 

"Je vous aime Lafayette." Hercules said with a gravelly voice.

"Je vous aime Hercules." Lafayette said beautifully, and placed a soft kiss on Hercules' cheek, and lingered there for a long while. Hercules could feel their hot breath on his face and craved more, but couldn't tell if this was Lafayette's natural affections, or if it really meant what he wanted it to. What if he misread Lafayette and went too far? He knew their friendship wouldn't be "ruined", but it would certainly be tainted. Lafayette was the most important thing in Hercules' life and he couldn't risk losing that. He was willing to wait for Lafayette. 

Back at the fire pit, where the opening ceremonies were about to begin, John sat with Alexander, who still had his head on John's shoulder. John's arm was wrapped protectively around Alex's waist and was immensely happy. That was, until he looked up and saw someone looming over him. 

"Who's the boy toy John?" The boy snickered.

John leered at him and was surprised to see Alexander jump up.

"Who are you calling boy toy dumbass?" Alex was dwarfed by the boy in front of him, but he wasn't about to back down. He was small, but mighty. 

"Thomas Jefferson. And you are?" The boy drawled.

"Alexander Hamilton. John's friend." Alexander emphasized the word friend, causing John to wince slightly.

"Yeah right!" Jefferson laughed loudly, so that soon, all of the attention was on them. "Friends with benefits maybe." All of Jefferson's friends were soon surrounding him, laughing along. John slowly stood up and was at Alexander's side. 

"Shut up Jefferson. You don't know what you're talking about." John gritted his teeth.

"Oh don't I? Does your little friend know that you're gay? Or did you keep that from him?" Jefferson smirked and John cocked back his fist, ready to strike, but before he could, Jefferson was already on the ground. Alex was delivering punches to his chest with such force that Jefferson couldn't breathe. 

Everyone was too shocked to try and break up the fight, and scared of the new kid. 

Alex looked terrifying as he came down with all of his strength onto Jefferson, hair flying everywhere, his face a deep red with a vein popped out on his forehead. He was yelling, slipping from French to English. John couldn't understand much but heard "Don't...hurt...my...John!!!" in between blows to Jefferson's chest. 

John knew he should probably do something, and that what Alexander was doing was wrong....but he had never been more in love. 

Someone had must have to run to go get help, because soon an exasperated camper appeared, followed by none other than George Washington. 

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Mr. Washington bellowed, grabbing everyone's attention, except Alex, who was still focused on hitting Jefferson. 

Washington grabbed Alex by the collar of his shirt and tore him away from Jefferson, who was in horrible shape. Alex still tried to hit him as Washington pulled him away.

"Sir, it's my fault. He was only sticking up for me. I could have stopped it, but I didn't." John said confidently. He would happily take the bullet for Alex. 

"Both of you meet me inside my office. Someone please take Jefferson to the infirmary immediately." 

Needless to say, John and Alexander were not able to attend the opening ceremonies. Lafayette and Hercules appeared back at the fire pit to find that John and Alexander were nowhere to be found.

"Have any of you seen John Laurens? Or Alexander Hamilton?" Lafayette asked a group of middle school aged campers.

They all looked at each other and turned back to Lafayette with horrified looks on their faces. "Alexander almost killed Jefferson. George Washington took them to his office." One finally spoke up.

Lafayette and Hercules exchanged surprised looks and walked away. Neither of them were really in the mood to watch the opening ceremonies anymore. Everyone was staring at them exchanging whispers.

"They are friends with those psychopaths??" 

"Stay away from them, they're probably plotting to kill us all."

Hercules clenched his fists and Lafayette wrapped their arm through his, loosening him up slightly. "Let's just go back to the cabin." They said softly. 

Hercules nodded and him and Lafayette walked silently back to the cabin, their arms wrapped together. 

As soon as they walked in the door, Hercules immediately stripped down to his boxers and climbed up to his bunk. 

Lafayette watched this quick process with their mouth slightly open, frozen at the door. Hercules really was beautiful. 

They finally moved away from the door and climbed up to Hercules' bunk, sitting on the edge of his bed. 

"Hercules? I just wanted to thank you for opening up to me. I know it can be hard...but you were so there for me when I came out, and I want to do the same to you. You're my best friend Hercules." Lafayette said quietly.

Hercules sat up in the bed and wordlessly pulled Lafayette next to him and laid back down.

Lafayette was glad it was dark, because his facial expression was of immense giddiness. They missed being able to touch Hercules, as Hercules had barely touched them all day and they hadn't seen each other during the summer. 

The bed was tiny, barely even a twin, but they made it work. Hercules was like a big teddy bear, and Lafayette boldly wrapped their legs around his and laid their head on his chest. 

"Je vous aime Hercules." Lafayette croaked.

"Je vous aime Lafayette." Hercules stammered. He couldn't believe the position they were in...especially where Lafayette's were. He silently prayed not to get a boner.

Lafayette could feel Hercules' dick against him, and thought that maybe they should move their leg, but mischievously decided not do, besides, when else would they have this opportunity again? Both of them completely vulnerable, lying in the dark, completely alone.

Neither of them realized how much the other wanted them. If they had, the night certainly would have ended differently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! i'm overwhelmed by how many sweet people have told me how much they love this fic! the gayness will only increase, trust me, wait till you read the next chapter ;)
> 
> as always i'm open to feedback, and my tumblr is @herculesmulligon, come talk to me!
> 
> happy holidays everyone!


	5. all this time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john and alex receive their punishment, lafayette and hercules share their feelings.

John and Alex knew they were in for it, but neither of them really cared. Alex was still rushing with adrenaline, and John was still joyfully stunned. George Washington on the other hand, was fuming. He really liked John, but he had a history with being the cause of fights. 

As they approached Washington’s office, John started to feel nervous. What if Alex got sent home because of him? 

“Sir-” John started, but Washington cut him off by simply holding up his hand. He looked exasperated and John and Alex gingerly sat in the leather chairs across from his desk. 

“I don’t want to know what Jefferson said. I want you two to go and apologize to him tomorrow.” Washington said, his voice sounding surprisingly calm, but his face did not portray the same emotion.

“Aren’t you going to punish him??” Alex asked grudgingly.

“I think you’ve punished him enough, Mr. Hamilton.”

Alex leaned back in his chair submissively and Mr. Washington rubbed his palm across his face, looking more disheveled than John had ever seen him.

“Boys, I know your hearts are in the right place, but punching isn’t going to solve anything. It really isn’t. I’m sure Jefferson deserved it-” He paused at the shocked look on the boys faces “Yes, I really do think that. But, I’m going to have to punish you both.”

Washington sighed heavily. He didn’t want to have to do this, but he really had no choice. He had to be fair. 

“I’ve decided that as your punishment, you both will spend a week in the isolation cabin. You must stay inside the cabin at all times, you cannot attend any activities. Meals will be delivered to you.”

Maybe a week alone with Alex wouldn’t be so bad, John thought. But his heart sunk when he realized he wouldn’t be able to see Lafayette and Hercules. His plans for the perfect summer were already being derailed on the first day. 

“Mr. Laurens, you may wait outside my office while I speak with Mr. Hamilton.” Washington gave John a curt nod and he left the room with a grimace at Alex. 

Soon, Alex exited the office, looking downhearted, but brightened up when he saw John. 

“A week in isolation isn’t so bad, huh? And Mr. Washington said Hercules and Lafayette could say goodbye to us tomorrow, because they’re probably asleep now.” Alex said brightly.

John’s spirits were slightly lifted at adorable Alex, and he would be able to say goodbye to his friends. 

“No, not bad at all. I was afraid you were going to get kicked out of camp.” John laughed, but Alex looked uneasy. 

“Hey, it’ll be fun. You are going to learn things you never wanted to know about me in a week alone together.” John grinned and Alex laughed. That’s all John wanted to do, make Alex happy.

They walked to the isolation cabin silently, and found the decrepit cabin in the middle of the woods, incredibly far away from the rest of camp. John couldn’t help but think of all the things that he could do to Alex without anybody knowing. 

John opened the door and flipped on the lightswitch. Nothing. Again. Nothing. The boys couldn’t see a thing, there wasn’t even any moonlight shining through the canopy of trees. 

“I guess we are just going to have to feel around then.” Alex said. John knew he didn’t mean it suggestively, but he couldn’t help but giggle. 

Alex rolled his eyes, but was smiling, which John obviously couldn’t see. Alex slid his palm down John’s arm until he found his hand, which he slid perfectly into his, stepping into the cabin. Of course John knew Alex was only holding his hand because he had to, but his heart was still racing a mile a minute. 

Alex walked in front of John, one arm feeling the air around him, the other squeezing John's hand. Soon, he felt a bedpost and stopped moving.

"Here John, you can sleep here, I'll find another bed. We can ask about the electricity in the morning."

"Be careful Alexander." John replied, and as if on cue he heard a thump, as Alex ran into something.

"I'm ok. I'm ok." Alex laughed and John laughed with him.

Finally Alex found a bed and climbed into it, suddenly feeling very tired after the long day he'd had. 

"Goodnight Alex." John whispered.

Alex was already half asleep when he mumbled, "Sweet dreams my John."

John fell asleep smiling. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hercules woke up to find Lafayette snoring, half on top of him. Their leg was still against his dick. Oh shit. He needed to get up. Right now. He gently shook Lafayette.

"Hey, Laf. I can't breathe." That wasn't a lie, the sensation he was feeling was leaving him quite out of breath. 

Lafayette opened their eyes lazily and rubbed a hand through their bed head.

"Oh, good morning ma chére." Lafayette smiled sleepily and sat up.

"Morning, hi. I have to pee." Hercules stumbled over Lafayette and down the ladder, running into the bathroom and slamming the door.

He was sweating profusely. He had it bad for Lafayette. It was going to be hard to hide for much longer if they kept doing things like sleeping together.

He heard a door open, and a deep muffled voice speaking to Lafayette as he tried to regulate his breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. 

Once he was in a presentable state, the person had already left, and he opened the door to an exasperated Lafayette.

"John and Alex have been sentenced to a week in the isolation cabin. We're allowed to say goodbye to them. Let's go." Lafayette noticed that Hercules had run to the bathroom not because he needed to pee. They thought it was because he was still uncomfortable touching Lafayette and they were upset, to say the least.

Lafayette and Hercules walked over to the isolation cabin, well, more like ran. Lafayette was trying to distance them self from Hercules as much as they could, which wasn't hard. They were a lot taller than him.

"Can you slow down a little bit?" Hercules puffed.

"No." Lafayette said simply.

"Ok?" Hercules said questionably, not really thinking much of it. Maybe Lafayette was just being competitive.

Soon, they reached the cabin in the woods and Lafayette knocked on the door. After a few seconds of no one answering, they impatiently opened the door and barged in.

"Wake up idiots!" They yelled. Lafayette was mad. Why did they have to get into a stupid fight?? Now he had to spend a week alone with Hercules' awkwardness.

The boys shot out of bed at Lafayette's voice. John had never heard him that angry.

"Morning Laf, I'm so sorry-" John started, but was cut off.

"No. John, listen to me. The world doesn't revolve around you. Yeah, I'm sure Jefferson said some shit, but you need to learn to control yourself and think of the other people you are affecting." 

Alex looked like he was going to speak up and defend John, but he saw Hercules from behind Lafayette signaling him not to. It'd just be best to let Lafayette get their anger out. Lord knows what would happen if they were interrupted. 

Lafayette sighed and shook their head, walking out of the cabin. Hercules quickly hugged both boys.

"I'm sorry guys, I have to go. I'll miss you!" He said as he started running after Lafayette, who was absolutely fuming. 

Lafayette was red in the face, walking as fast as they could back to the cabin and mumbling under their breath. Hercules let them do this for a while, but finally jumped in front of them, cornering them. 

"Lafayette, what's wrong?" He asked sternly.

"Get out of my way Hercules." They said through gritted teeth.

"Not until you tell me what's going on." And then softer he added "I'm here for you." Hercules lightly took Lafayette's hand, and something in their expression shifted.

The fire in their eyes died, and a storm replaced it. Lafayette was surging with emotion that they didn't know what to do with. So they did what all people with emotional overload do and cried. 

Hercules, of course, was surprised at this sudden change. 

"Angel, what is it?" Hercules was incredibly concerned and stroked Lafayette's hand softly.

Lafayette proceeded to cry harder, and sunk to the ground, dragging Hercules down with them.

"It's– it's you." They said in between sobs that wracked their body.

"What?" Hercules' voice was incredibly small. They retracted their hand from Lafayette's.

After a while of sobbing, Lafayette eventually pulled them self together enough to speak.

"Hercules, you've been so distant since I've seen you. When you came out to me yesterday, I figured that was the reason, but you're still avoiding me. Almost every time we touch, you– you seem– disgusted." They paused and looked at Hercules' shocked face. Instantly, they looked back at the ground. 

"Why won't you touch me? Why won't you talk to me? Is it because– because I'm not a boy? Or a girl? Does that disgust you?" Lafayette's voice was so quiet and breathy. 

Hercules immediately snapped out of his shocked trance.

"No. Never. Lafayette, I know that you aren't a boy or girl. You're non binary, and I've always respected that. Since you came out to us, you've been so much happier, so I've been happier too." He looked Lafayette in the eyes intensely as he said this, making sure they understood. Lafayette meekly nodded.

"What is it then?" They whispered, tears silently streaming down their face.

Hercules took a deep breath, but he was still shaking.

"I didn't want to tell you this, I was afraid I would screw up our friendship, but I see I've already done that. But Lafayette, I really hope we will always be friends. You are the most important person in my life." 

He closed his eyes briefly, not wanting to look at Lafayette's expectant face. He focused on a tree behind them. He would tell the tree how he felt about Lafayette. The tree would understand. 

"Lafayette, when I first met you, I knew I wanted to be friends with you until the world ended, and that hasn't changed. But when I was a kid, I wasn't comfortable with myself. I always felt the need to act manly. I remember at my cousin's wedding, all I wanted to do was be flower girl, but my dad wouldn't let me. As my punishment, I didn't even get to go to the wedding. You were always so brave though Lafayette, so free with who you are. I wanted to be like you. So when you came out, I started having these...feelings. Feelings that have been hyperactive lately. I finally realized I've been...different all this time. All this time, all this time Lafayette, all this time I've been madly in love with you." 

Silence. Hercules was greeted with silence. He risked a glance at Lafayette, who had fresh tears rolling down their face and an apologetic look.

"It's– it's ok if you don't feel the same. I'm glad you know though, now we can work through this and–" He was cut off by a sound that seemed very inappropriate at the time.

Lafayette was laughing. At first softly, but soon they were taken over by it, clutching their chest as the wonderful feeling of laughter escaped them loudly. 

"All..all this time Hercules!! All this time!" They said in between laughs, wiping tears off of their face.

Hercules had no idea what to do. Had he driven Lafayette to hysteria? Maybe he should take them back to the cabin...

As he started standing up Lafayette grabbed his hand, pulling him back down. Their laughter had finally ceased to the occasional giggle, and they pulled them self together. 

"All this time Hercules, all this time we could have been fucking." They grinned widely and mischievously at Hercules, whose eyes were wide as saucers. This sent Lafayette into another fit of giggles, which was silenced by the harsh, hungry feeling of Hercules' lips on theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I hope you all had a happy holiday :) my new years resolution is, as is always, to write more. But please forgive me if I am slow updating, I have midterms coming up. As always, I love feedback and you can hmu on tumblr @oscorp (changed my url) xoxo


	6. breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john and alex spend their first morning in the isolation cabin while lafayette and hercules spend their first morning all by themselves

After Lafayette and Hercules had left, Alex and John were staring at each other, absolutely dumbfounded. Lafayette had never been so angry…and Alex certainly didn’t want to not see them for a week and have their relationship end on this note. He already knew he would be stressing all week, but looking at Alex, the world seemed to disappear. He saw stars, all around them. They were floating up and up, away from all that is wrong in the world, ascending through the cosmos. He was gone, and he was with Alexander, the beautiful Alexander, who was floating closer and closer to them, and brilliant colors were everywhere and...and...John blinked. He was transported back into the dingy cabin and Alex was looking at him concernedly. 

"Are you ok John?" Obviously, he thought John seemed so distant because he was upset about Lafayette. He was upset about Lafayette, but Alex was a happy distraction.

"Oh yeah..um...I just don't like my friends to be mad at me." John said quietly, the weight of that morning's events finally weighing down on him.

Lafayette and Hercules were all he had...and the thought that they might be gone...John couldn't help but cry.

Alex immediately jumped up and sat next to John on his bed. He placed one arm around John, and one arm stroking his hand. He let John cry and stutter for a while.

"They're...my best friends." John managed to sputter out in between cries.

"I know...I know." Alex whispered, continually stroking John's hands, and gently lowering John's head into his lap, who happily obliged. 

"The only people...who care about me." John said as quietly as possible.

"Woah woah woah. Stop the press." Alex took John by the shoulders and placed him right side up. 

"John motherfucking Laurens. Listen to me. This is the most important thing you will probably ever hear in your life. And its absolutely one hundred percent true. You, my friend, are an amazing, badass, beautiful, fun, and intelligent person. I find it hard to believe they are the only people that care about you. And I care about you John." Alex kept his hands firmly pressed against John's shoulders and locked his eyes on John's. 

John was left gaping at Alex, with his mouth slightly open. He sat unmoving for a long time until Alex cracked a small smile. Then John's mouth suddenly seemed to work...a little bit.

"Alex...I..." He started.

"You don't have to say anything. I know." Alex smiled and ran a hand across John's cheek before standing up and going into the bathroom.

John flopped down on his back and ran his hands across his face. What just happened? Alex...Alex was unbelievable. And amazing. And perfect. And he wasn't going to be able to resist kissing him much longer...

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. 

"Coming!" John yelled as he groaned and pulled himself up from the comfort of the bed. He opened the door to a pretty girl who looked about his age. 

"Can I help you?" John asked quizzically. Weren't they supposed to have no visitors. 

She smiled at John and looked like she meant to extend her hand but they were full of...tupperware. John opened the door further so she could come in and set them down. 

"Elizabeth Schuyler." She smiled and the features of her face were perfectly aligned. 

John immediately recognized the name, and was surprised he didn't realize who she was before. The Schuyler family basically owned the camp, they donated as much money as they had to to keep the camp running. 

"Schuyler.." John muttered under his breath and extended his hand. 

She shook it and asked, "And you are?"

"Oh right! I'm John. John Laurens." He smiled sheepishly. "What's in the containers?"

"Your breakfast. My sisters and I volunteered to brings you your meals each day. I'm on breakfast duty." 

"Oh..thank you so much." John smiled and opened the containers to find eggs and toast, and another stacked with juice boxes. 

"The juice boxes were my treat. Kind of like a welcome to the isolation cabin gesture."

John snickered. "Oh yeah. This is definitely more welcoming than our last guests."

Eliza opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then Alex emerged from the bathroom and she emitted a small gasp instead. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize we had company." Alex was not wearing a shirt.

Eliza felt helpless, but so did John.

Alex laughed at their stares and threw on a t-shirt. "I'm Alexander Hamilton."

Eliza snapped back into reality. "Elizabeth Schuyler. It's a pleasure."

"If it takes fighting Jefferson for us to meet it will have been worth it." Alex said jokingly, but neither John nor Eliza believed it was a joke. 

Alex laughed at their faces, and Eliza and John nervously laughed along with him. 

"What do we have here?" Alex gestured to the food.

"Oh. I brought you breakfast." Eliza stated proudly.

"That's so kind of you. Thank you Elizabeth." Alex smiled warmly.

"Call me Eliza." She smiled and then her watch beeped. "Oh! I have to go I can't be late for horseback riding. Goodbye! Nice to meet you both!" She was addressing Alex and John, but she only looked at Alex when she said it. 

She ran out the door with a wave as she slammed it behind her.

Alex gravitated over to the food, and started piling his plate high with eggs. It was a lot of food for just the two of them, but Alex looked like he hadn't eaten in ages, and come to think about it, they hadn't eaten anything yesterday, due to their elongated tour and...the fight. 

"She was pretty." John said tensely. He wanted to hear Alex's reaction.

"Beautiful." Alex replied, still filling up his plate, his back to John. 

"God, how many eggs can you eat man?" John laughed at Alex, trying to put Eliza in the back of his mind.

Alex slowly turned around. "I bet you I can eat all of them." He raised his eyebrows at John, tempting him.

"I'll bet on that.You can’t" John grinned. He was happy just eating toast if it meant he could watch Alex stuff his face, it was bound to be hilarious. 

“OK. What are we betting on my dear Laurens?” 

John knew he was joking, but his heart still skipped a beat and his breath caught in his throat. 

“Umm...If you lose…” John had no idea so he shrugged at Alex, whose face lit up.

“I know!! There’s a lake at the end of the woods right?” John nodded. “Loser has to swim in the lake.” He grinned mischievously and John didn’t understand, until Alex added “Butt naked.”

Motherfucker.  
He sure as hell hoped Alex couldn’t eat all of those eggs, but in the back of his mind, he knew, and maybe a small part of him...a tiny part...wanted Alex to see him naked. 

“You’re on.” He extended his hand and Alex shook it vigorously. 

Alex was shoving eggs in his mouth and soon, there were three empty tupperware containers. Alex lazily grinned at John and flopped onto his bed, rubbing his stomach. 

“Yummy.” Alex smirked at John, who was completely red in the face as Alex’s eyes snaked over his body. John already felt naked. “We’ll wait until tonight for your punishment John.” And with that, John gulped and nodded at the beautiful specimen that was Alexander Hamilton. He couldn’t help but wonder if Alex knew he could eat all those eggs and just wanted to see John naked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lafayette’s lips on his was better than Hercules had ever imagined, and trust me, he imagined it frequently. He was running his hands through Lafayette’s mess of curly hair as they sat entangled on the damp forest floor. Lafayette’s hands were under Hercules’ shirt, feeling every inch of skin from his waist to his neck, and Hercules was humming happily into their kiss. Neither of them had experienced anything like it, and both were so overwhelmed they had to stop. They looked at each other, Hercules’ face cupped in Lafayette’s hand, and laughed. They laughed lightly at first, and then until their stomachs hurt, rolling around the mossy floor, getting themselves completely filthy.

“I love you.” Lafayette whispered.

“I know.” Hercules said gruffly, quoting him and Lafayette’s favorite movie, which sent them both into another fit of giggles, which was silenced by Hercules placing their lips back on Lafayette’s. He knew he would never get tired of the feeling of their soft lips as Lafayette leaned slightly into the kiss. They shared a moment’s bliss until Lafayette retreated. 

“Let’s continue this back at the cabin mon chéri.” Lafayette slowly backed away, grinning at Hercules, who needingly followed Lafayette. 

“We’re alone for the week.” Hercules remembered, still crawling towards Lafayette, who was teasingly backing away on their hands and knees. 

“Oh yeah, big boy. Just you and me.” Lafayette ran their tongue across their lips suggestively and enjoyed Hercules’ wide-eyed reaction.

Lafayette finally put Hercules out of his misery and stood up, extending their hand towards him, which Hercules gladly took. 

They silently walked back to the cabin, enjoying each other’s company, and the knowledge that their love was requited. 

Finally they reached the cabin, and the door opened with a creak. It seemed so...empty. And Hercules didn’t know what to do? What did Lafayette want to do? Were they going to go...all the way? He looked concernedly at Lafayette, who looked just as confused who cracked a small smile at Hercules.

“Let’s just see what happens.” Lafayette rubbed Hercules’ hand and then raised it to their lips.

Hercules smiled and nodded. He felt so safe with Lafayette. Nothing could ruin this moment. 

Lafayette dropped Hercules’ hand and slowly worked their hands under Hercules’ shirt, looking at him for approval, but Hercules’ eyes were closed, completely savoring the moment.

“Should we get in bed first?” Lafayette interjected, stopping the beautiful movement of their long fingers across Hercules’ chest.

“Er...yes. Yeah. We should.” Hercules opened his eyes, and Lafayette removed their hands from him, laughing at Hercules’ dejected face.

“Don’t worry mon chéri, it won’t be long before these hands are at work again.” And with that, Hercules was scrambling up the ladder to Lafayette’s bunk. 

Lafayette laughed, but they too were anxious to get their hands back on Hercules, so they bounded up the ladder, more gracefully, but just as desperate, as Hercules. 

They sat up facing each other, and at a quickened pace, Lafayette thrust their hands under Hercules shirt, grasping at everything they could. The newfound desperation heightening, Hercules pushed his lips onto Lafayette’s neck, and as he saw the satisfaction on Lafayette’s face, placed kisses all down their collarbone. Lafayette wanted to take it further too, as he started clawing at Hercules’ perfect skin, and aggravated, threw Hercules’ shirt off and to the ground. As Hercules’ kisses moved further down Lafayette, their shirt was becoming a hindrance as well, and he repeated Lafayette’s action by taking their shirt and throwing it to the ground. Lafayette shifted their weight onto Hercules, pressing their hips into his, forcing him to lean back onto the bed. Lafayette wrapped their legs around Hercules, forcing him into a compromising position. Hercules struggled to push up and kiss Lafayette, but he was pinned down and completely helpless. Lafayette grinned deviously looking at Hercules' needy face. They then started grinding their hips against Hercules' and watched Hercules emit a gasp that turned into a moan. Lafayette pushed down on him, and Hercules pushed up, grinding with all of his strength, and almost flinging Lafayette off of him, but that just made them go harder.

Suddenly, they locked eyes, and could both see each other's bright stares, full of hunger and pure love.

Neither of them had ever been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i'm really enjoying writing this and might write some more in this universe if you guys like it :)
> 
> i always love feedback, and hmu on tumblr @oscorp


	7. and peggy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john and alex meet the wonder that is peggy schuyler

Alex was still lying on the bed, almost regretting eating all of those eggs. Almost. He had lied there all morning, just talking to John, who was a great listener. Alex had a lot to say, but it was rare when someone wanted to actually listen. John was a perfect listener, and Alex couldn't help but take advantage of that. By the end of the morning, John essentially knew Alex's life story, all about his impoverished childhood on the island, his mother's death, destruction of the island, moving in with a cousin who committed suicide, and he was finally here. Of course, he didn't tell John the circumstances that he was going to camp. He trusted John so very much, but he really had only met him the day before. It was only then that Alex realized he hadn't asked John a single question.

"Oh John, I-I'm so sorry. I've been running my mouth this whole time. Tell me about you." Alex wanted to know everything about John, but it wasn't going to be as easy to find out as he thought.

John smiled. He was throwing a soccer ball up and down as he lie on his bed. 

"Alex, don't be sorry. Your life is incredibly interesting. I love hearing about it." John said earnestly.

"It's your turn John." Alex was highly anticipating John's life story, wondering how he became so wonderful.

"My life is boring." John said firmly, attempting to put an end to the whole affair. But Alex wouldn't back down so easily.

"Oh c'mon John!" After John didn't reply, Alex continued. "Ok, I'll start you off. Where did you get that beautiful head of hair of yours from? Your father?"

Just then, Alex was cut off. John snapped. His face was red, and he gave Alexander a look of utter contempt, but if you looked closely, you could see the fear behind his eyes. 

"Just stop it!!" He yelled, and curled up in the bed, turning his back to Alex, who was utterly shocked. He opened his mouth, and reached out his hand, looking apologetic, but stopped. He didn't know John that well, but figured it would be best to leave him alone, so dejectedly, Alex turned away from John, shutting his brilliantly colored, and now glassy, eyes. 

Little did Alex know, John wanted nothing more than Alex to come over to his bed, embrace him in a hug, and insist on knowing what was wrong. 

Alex awoke with a start when he heard the door bang open, and a frazzled girl ran into the room, slamming down the containers of food in her hands. 

"Shit, that was a close one. You almost lost your lunch boys! Why didn't Eliza warn me how long the walk was...and how hard it is to balance all those containers..." The girl wandered on aimlessly as she redid her long, black ponytail. Alex turned over, and it seemed as if John was sleeping. Really, he was just pretending so to avoid Alex, but of course Alex wouldn't have known that. 

"Thank you for your brave journey." Alex sat up and ruffled his hair, looking at the girl in front of him, who was suddenly doubling over laughing.

"A man who appreciates sarcasm. I like you." And with a grin, she added, "I'm Peggy. You're John right?"

"Uh-no. I'm Alex. That's John." He gestured across the room to the beautiful sleeping lump. 

"He sure is a heavy sleeper. And an ugly one too." Peggy said bluntly.

Most people wouldn't argue with her, John was convincingly spread across the bed lying on his stomach, his butt very prominent, his hair covering his face, and his mouth wide open. But Alex wasn't most people. 

"How could you say that? Look at him." Alex said wistfully, after all, John couldn't hear him (but oh he could).

"I'm looking at him." Peggy said quizzically, but then something seemed to click as she looked into Alex's eyes.

"Oh, I see. Sorry I called your boyfriend ugly. I'm sure he's perfectly mediocre when he's awake." She smiled at her own sense of humor. 

Alex started to deny it, they weren't dating, but soon trailed off at the knowing look on Peggy's face. 

"You don't have to lie. I'm not going to tell Jefferson." She giggled at the look of hatred on Alex's face. "I've seen him in the infirmary. Since my family lives at the camp, my sisters and I always have to do stupid chores, and yesterday, I had the pleasure of seeing Thomas looking absolutely dreadful. You must have punched him good! I'm sorry I missed it." Peggy bounced on her heels as she said this, always a ball of energy.

"Yeah well, that fight almost cost me a lot. A whole lot." Alex mumbled.

"Ooh do tell!" Peggy jumped onto Alex's bed and leaned forward, putting her face in her hand, paying upmost attention. 

"Ah...another time. I think John is waking up." Alex deflected the question.

He was right of course, but John had been awake this whole time, and only snuck a scratch to the nose, but Alex didn't miss anything. So, John fluttered his eyes, pretending to be only just now waking up.

"Morning sleeping ugly." Peggy chuckled, not really paying that much attention to John. She was starting to get hungry as well, so decided to fill up a plate of her own. She had nothing better to do today, so why not hang out with these nerds? Besides, they had to be somewhat cool to pound Jefferson like that. And she'd heard rumors about John breaking Charles Lee's nose, but Charles claimed he had hurt it dirt biking. Likely story. Lee was just as likely to have broken his nose dirt biking as Jefferson was to profess his love to Alex. That is to say, not very likely. 

"Aren't you just a little ray of sunshine?" John mumbled.

Peggy giggled and started stuffing her mouth with tea sandwiches. 

“Mmm. Eliza must have made these.” She exclaimed happily.

“How is dear Eliza?” Alex smiled.

“Since you saw her this morning? Uh, I don’t know. Haven’t seen her today.” Peggy said confusedly, in between bites.

Alex nodded slightly, his cheeks pink at John’s appraising gaze. 

“Hi John. How did you sleep?” Alex smiled nervously. He didn’t know if John was still mad at him.

“Like a rock.” John muttered sarcastically, running a hand through his tangle of curls and sitting up. 

“Can I get you anything? Peggy brought lunch. I’m still full from breakfast.” Alex risked a small, breathy, laugh. 

John only nodded, not looking at Alex, but instead looking out the window, where behind all the towering trees, he could see the gleam of the lake. 

Alex hurriedly went over to the food, to start filling up a plate for John, but Peggy playful blocked him. She immediately stopped with one pleading look from Alex. He looked so...desperate...so helpless. 

John silently took the plate that Alex had given him. He looked like a puppy who had just chewed up a shoe, and was now doing everything he could to make it up to his owner. Alex wavered over near John for a while, waiting for him to say something, and finally dejected, made his way over to Peggy.

“Thank you.” John whispered as Alex was walking away. Alex didn’t deserve this, it wasn’t his fault that John didn’t want to talk about his life.

Alex smiled and turned on his heel. “Anything you need, my friend.” 

John couldn’t help but notice how Alex called him “friend”, but called Eliza “dear”, and he felt another surge of jealousy.

“Aw, you’ve made up. How touching!” Peggy interjected, her voice dripping with fake excitement and clapping her hands. Both of the boys turned and gave her the bird, which caused all three of them to have a good laugh. They ate (well, Alex didn’t, he was feeling sick from the eggs) and talked, which was mostly listening to Peggy complain about her chores and gossip about her sisters. Her and Alex had a great time gabbing it up, and John enjoyed listening to them and laughing along. 

They lost track of time, and it wasn’t until they heard another knock at the door that they realized it was dinnertime. Peggy opened the door to the third and final Schuyler sister they had seen that day. Angelica strode in gracefully and set the food down.

“Peggy, have you been here all day? This is supposed to be the isolation cabin you know.” Angelica raised her eyebrows at her sister.

“Oh c’mon Angie. You’re not my mom.” With that, Angelica’s lips turned into a thin line, and Peggy knew she had screwed up.

“Enjoy your dinner boys.” Angelica said briskly, as she dragged Peggy out of the cabin, who was shouting apologies at her sister. 

After both of the sisters, Alex and John were left alone, and looked at each other, both starting to speak at the same time. Both of them started with “I’m sorry.”

“No.” John interjected. “I shouldn’t have snapped. I’m just...not particularly pleased with my home life, so summers here are my escape.”

“I shouldn’t have pried John. I know we haven’t been friends for very long, but I already trust you and...I feel like we have a connection. Maybe I misinterpreted.” Alex replied solemnly. 

“No Alex...you didn’t. I’m just a very reserved person, I don’t really open up until you get to know me.” John wished it weren’t so painful to talk about, because keeping all these feelings bottled up for so long had caused him to be very temperamental. 

Alex nodded slightly, and John made his way swiftly over to him, wrapping him in a tight embrace. At first, Alex tensed up, but soon relaxed into John’s long arms. Again, at the same time, they both said “I’m sorry.” 

As they seperated, John looked out the window, and noticed the sun had set. When was he going to go “swimming”? He looked at Alex, who seemed to have been thinking the same thing. John had very mixed feelings about his punishment, of course he was scared, but not for the usual reasons, that he would feel ugly or whatever, but because if he stripped down his clothes, he had to strip down his walls and completely let Alex in. All of his secrets and feelings he’d kept hidden for so long would be all out on the table, his past would be evident. 

“John, if you’re uncomfortable..” Alex started, but John cut him off. He knew Alex was genuinely being kind, but he saw it as a challenge. 

“Let’s go.” He said firmly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! im sorry i haven't updated lately, but i just finished midterms!! I hope you like this chapter and where this fic is headed! xoxo and thank you for all your sweet comments, i love getting feedback :)


	8. the dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the bet between Alex and John is finally fulfilled, laf and herc plan a stealth mission

Lafayette woke up to the sun shining in their eyes. For a brief second, they were confused as to why they were in the bed in the middle of the day, but then they heard Hercules snore and smiled. Oh that’s right. They had both fallen asleep after their makeout sesh, and had probably missed lunch. But Lafayette didn’t care, they would happily starve if it meant they got to touch Hercules. They looked over at the sleeping beauty that was their Hercules. He was halfway draped across Lafayette, his face resting in the crook of their arm. They were both still shirtless and Lafayette grinned at Hercules’ dark, thick and muscular upper body. Hercules let loose another snore and Lafayette kissed his forehead, causing him to stir slightly. Lafayette happily replayed the morning’s events in their head, and then they remembered John. How they had yelled at John, and the sorrowful look on his face. John had always been very sensitive, Lafayette tended to be very gentle with him. Even though John rarely talked about it, Lafayette knew John had a rough home life, so they had always strived to make John comfortable and happy when they were together. And they could have ruined that by hurting John, now he might never let Lafayette in. Now they wouldn’t see John for a week.They knew that they would have to find a way to see him, even if that meant getting in trouble. Lafayette was absentmindedly stroking Hercules’ arm, who was now waking up. Hercules smiled, but then noticed the concerned look on Lafayette’s face.

“What is it babe?” Hercules said raspily.

The corners of Lafayette’s lips slightly upturned at Hercules calling them babe, but still was worrying about John.  
“I’m worried about John. I’m shouldn’t have yelled at him yesterday. We need to find a way to see him.” Lafayette said quietly, even though there was no one around to hear them.

Hercules immediately grinned and started bouncing. “You mean...sneak around?” 

Hercules had an affinity for spying, and despite his size, he was very good at it. When they played revolutionary war, he was always the one who spied on the British. He secretly hoped that one day he would work for the CIA. His family, of course, thought he should stick to tailoring, that’s what he was good at. But they had never seen Hercules in stealth mode.

“Oh yeah, big boy. Get ready to activate stealth mode.” Lafayette nuzzled up against Hercules, whose energy had no bounds.

He basically attacked Lafayette, flipping them over and aggressively kissing them. The prospect of spying had excited him, and Lafayette was more than happy to be an outlet of Hercules’ excitement. Soon they were in similar position as they were earlier that morning, and the sounds emitting from them and the creaking of the bed prevented them from hearing when someone came to the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex was surprised at the certainty in John’s voice as he led them towards the lake. The air was cooler now that the sun was down, and the moonlight beamed onto the lake beautifully. John was walking at a brisk pace and Alex was having trouble keeping up with him. John had a look of determination of his face, the kind that you act on fast before you start questioning whether you’ll regret it in the future. John wanted to do this, and ran off of pure adrenaline, wanting to get over with before his common sense kicked in. Alex had meant the dare as a joke, sure, he wanted John to do it, but he was being so...serious. He felt like reminding John that he didn’t have to do this, but the absoluteness of John’s expression kept his mouth shut, for once. A million thoughts were running through John’s mind as he took the seemingly long walk down to the lake. Why tell Alex? You’ve only known him for a day. You haven’t even told your best friends. What if Alex tells someone and an adult intervenes? John tried to press all of these thoughts into the back of his mind, they seemed insignificant due to the prominent fact that John needed to tell someone. Even Alex had said he thought they had a special connection. John turned to look at Alex, who looked wary of John, and didn’t know if it would be ok to smile at John. As if John had read his mind, he flashed Alex a warm smile, who eagerly returned it, and the mood was instantly lightened as they reached the edge of the lake. John left all of his frightful thoughts behind as he looked at Alex, who was wiggling his eyebrows at John, who laughed heartily.

“Alright sweetheart, the wait is over.” John said with a rough voice, and Alex melted. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle himself, and immediately knew that John calling him sweetheart destroyed him. 

Alex cleared his throat, but his voice still cracked when he replied “Oh yeah.” which sent John into another fit of giggles, while Alex felt his face get hot as the color in his cheeks increased. 

John defiantly stepped closer to the lake, and quickly threw off his shirt. He had never done that in front of anyone and it felt completely liberating. He remembered never being able to take swim lessons as a child due to his...condition. John threw off all his clothes, fast as a whip, ignoring Alex's gaze. 

John was beautiful. Alex was astounded...and then, even through the darkness he could see, what he had originally thought to be freckles and birthmarks, were in fact, not. 

John paused for a split second, long enough for Alex to confirm his assumptions. 

Then, John was in the water. He didn't even know where his legs were taking him but it felt amazing. The cool water splashing against him, hitting ever part of his body as he waded further. John spun at the sound of splashing and couldn't believe his eyes.

Alexander, fully clothed, was running into the water towards John with a look of urgency and confusion on his face. 

John thought...well John didn't know what to think. Here Alex was running towards him, like a knight in shining armor. 

Alex reached him, soaking wet, standing very close to John. They both looked at each other, shocked. 

Alex didn't know what to say. The seemingly easy question to ask would be "Who did this to you?" but Alex, he wanted to take a softer approach. 

"John. You are beautiful." Alex said softly, wanting to do something like touch John's face, or hold his hand, but it seemed inappropriate, seeing that John was naked. 

That was not the response John had expected. Maybe Alex hadn't noticed...but the look on his face said that Alex had noticed, but he still thought John to beautiful. And that was all John could ever have asked for. 

John looked at Alex with watery eyes. “Really?” He whispered, his voice breaking.

“Of course John, remember what I told you? The most important thing you will ever hear in your life?” He smiled sweetly and John, and John returned the smile, replying with a nod. 

“Say it.” 

“I-I’m an amazing person and you care about me.” John said as confidently as he could.

“Yes. Never forget that John, and remember that when I ask you this...how did you get your scars?”

Yes, John was covered in scars. Many of them looked like they had been there a long time, but some of the rough streaks across his skin looked recent. And that’s what worried Alex. 

This was it. He was finally going to tell someone about his past, and it was Alex. Alexander Hamilton, who he was insanely falling for. He was scared, but more than that, relieved. When he finally started to speak, his voice was shaky. 

"I have to ask you something first Alex." John breathed.

"Anything John. Anything." And John could tell he really meant it. Alex would do anything for him and that made everything so much easier.

"You can't tell anybody. Even if you think it will help.." 

Alex nodded vigorously, cutting John off. And John believed him, he trusted him. 

"Ok. I guess it started the day I told my father that I thought this boy in my class was beautiful. He...well he didn't approve. He hit me with his belt, and called me faggot. I didn't even know what the word meant at the time. I was nine. Ever since, I've found myself on my father's bad side for being who I am and standing up for what I believe in." Once John started he couldn't stop, he was overflowing with years hidden pain.

"Like this year, I snuck out to go to a black lives matter rally and when I got back.." John trailed off and gestured to a long white scar across his chest. 

This was not what Alex expected. He had thought, he had thought John's marks were self-inflicted but now he saw how stupid that really was, and didn't know what to say. He was struggling to find words but John kept going, and going. 

"You're probably wondering why I've tolerated this, why I didn't leave. It was impossible. My dad's a powerful lawyer, so getting put into foster care was out of the question. I thought about running away, but I knew he'd find me. He's too powerful..but, soon I won't live with him anymore. I'll go to college." John brightened slightly at the prospect, along with summer camp, the thought of college had been the only thing getting him through the year. 

Alex knew he needed to think of a formulated answer because he couldn't just shout the first thing that came to mind at a moment like this. But John was looking at him, and all Alexander felt was blinding fury.

"Can I kill your father?" Well, at least he asked nicely. To Alex's surprise, John laughed. 

"He's putting me through college, but after that, we will." John was joking, and Alex couldn't believe his bravery. 

"John Laurens, you are the bravest person I know. And least deserving of what you've been put through." Alex's eyes were tearing up, his anger was turning into sadness. 

"You're very kind Alexander. It took me a long time to realize it, but I know that I've done nothing wrong, being who I am isn't bad...even if my father thinks so. Just because he's a racist homophobe doesn't change how I feel." He looked at Alex meaningfully. 

Alex said nothing, simply leaned forward and placed a wet kiss on John's forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am deeply sorry to all of you that have been following this fic, I know I haven't updated in months. I am overwhelmed at all the positive attention it has gotten.
> 
> That being said, I gave up on this fic months ago. My heart just wasn't in it and I haven't been into Hamilton so much lately. 
> 
> This is the second to last chapter I wrote back in January, and is my personal favorite. 
> 
> I will update the last chapter I wrote soon, and maybe try to convince myself to finish if y'all would like. 
> 
> As always, feedback is accepted and appreciated.


	9. chili night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> herc and laf face an unfortunate discovery and have some chili.

Hercules and Lafayette were going at it, grinding desperately and kissing each other's necks in between. Their volume, the loud groans emitting from them and the concerning creaking sound of the old bed they were shaking, prevented them from hearing when someone walked up to the cabin and turned the door. If they had heard this, they would have instantly composed themselves, knowing that it would ruin them. But, alas, they did not hear, and a frazzled boy opened the door and stared. They still did not hear him, making the already bad situation incredibly worse as the boy witnessed their careless motions, and heard them yell each other's names exhilaratingly. It wasn't until he cleared his throat that they realized their was someone was in the room. Both of their faces turned pink with embarrassment and their eyes widened with terror as they turned to see who it was. Hercules and Lafayette lie there, speechless with tussled hair and naked chests looking horrifyingly at the doorway. 

"I was told to come and check if you were ok, since you haven't attended any of your activities today, but I see that you've been...busy." The boy looked almost as embarrassed as them, but triumphant with this information he now had. 

Lafayette and Hercules finally found their voices and at the same time pleaded him to not say a word. 

"Oh I'm sorry, I really am, but Jefferson is going to find this very interesting." He began to smirk.

"James...we will do anything. Please. Jefferson is merciless.." Lafayette whispered. They weren't necessarily afraid of people knowing about them and Hercules being together, but knew that Hercules was not ready, and Jefferson would not put it nicely. 

Madison shook his head and bolted out of the room towards the infirmary, and Lafayette jumped up to go after him, but Hercules held them back.

"Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just enjoy these last couple minutes before everyone knows." Hercules said with a submissive tone.

"But Hercules..we can get James. We can make him not tell Jefferson." Lafayette said, determined not to let this get out for Hercules' sake. They remembered what happened when Jefferson found that they were non binary, and Hercules didn't deserve any of his brutality. 

"No Laf, please. It won't work." Hercules lie back down on the bed, looking oddly calm. 

Lafayette gave up, lying down with Hercules, kissing his hand. They didn't do anything but hold hands, just laying there together, enjoying each other's company. It wasn't soon after that none other than Mr. Washington came into their room.

"Hello you two. As I'm sure you know, Mr. Madison has told Mr. Jefferson what he witnessed a couple of minutes ago. Fortunately, I was in the infirmary at the time. I demanded Jefferson not to spread the rumor any further, but I doubt he will heed to my warning. He knows I can't kick him out due to his father's...generous donations to the camp." Mr. Washington looked both of them directly in the eyes as he said this, looking at their astonished faces. 

"We...aren't in trouble?" Lafayette said warily. 

"What? No of course not. The rule is no sex. Madison said you both were kissing and I didn't see anything." Washington smiled warmly at them. "Now, I'll do everything I can for you, but I'm afraid you may have to endure Jefferson's torments when I'm not around until he finds someone else to pick on." 

"Sir..." Hercules couldn't believe it. He knew Mr. Washington to be very fair, but never knew the full extent of his kindness. 

"Thank you." Lafayette finished for him, because Hercules seemed at a loss for words.

Mr. Washington smiled, giving them a small nod and opened up the door to leave. "Oh one more thing. What took you two so long?" He laughed and closed the door at their wide eyed faces.

Hercules and Lafayette were doubled over with laughter when Mr. Washington left. Who knew he was so funny?

“Alright mon cheri, I guess it is time to ‘face the music’ as they say.” Lafayette sighed, hugging their arms around Hercules, who laughed.

“Pretty sure no one says that Laf. But you’re right. Let’s get some lunch. Or whatever the hell the closest meal is.” He regrettably removed Lafayette’s arms from around him and slid down the ladder to get dressed. He grabbed a t-shirt and sniffed it, decided it was ok, and threw it over his head.

“Uh-uh.” Lafayette was very suddenly at his side. “If we’re going to go out, you can bet we’re going out in style.” They looked determined as they threw Hercules’ shirt back over his head. Even after all that had happened that morning, Hercules’ heart still skipped a beat as Lafayette looked them over with determined eyes. 

“We know purple is your color but of course you can’t wear the same shirt from last night, that’d be tacky…” Lafayette mumbled to themself as they rifled through their suitcase. “No... too flashy...too boring..” Hercules enjoyed watching them, Lafayette was so hot when they were focused. It took all the strength Hercules could muster to not go down on them right then and there.. 

“Perfect!” Lafayette whispered in awe, cutting off Hercules’ train of thought. Hercules was surprised at what they saw. 

“But Laf...really?”

“Yes! It’s beautiful Hercules, don’t doubt your craftsmanship.” Yes, it was a shirt Hercules had made. It was a simple gray tank top, but split into two parts in the back, exposing a small amount of skin. 

“If you say so babe.” Hercules smiled and Lafayette grabbed his cheeks and kissed him. They were excited that Hercules called them babe, Laf had a weakness for endearing nicknames.

“If I’m getting kissed because I’m agreeing to wear the top, you can plan out my wardrobe for the rest of my life.” 

“C’mon big boy. Let’s get you dolled up.” 

Lafayette slipped the shirt over Hercules’ head and eased off his shorts slowly. Hercules raised an eyebrow to which Lafayette responded with a nervous laugh.

“Relax, I’m just getting you a fresh pair of jeans.”

Hercules blushed and nodded, looking slightly dejected.

Eventually, they were both dressed and they both felt more confident about facing the camp because hey, at least they looked hot.

Lafayette and Hercules exchanged one last comforting glance at each other before grasping hands and opening the door. Right when the door opened, a loud bell sounded from across the camp and soon kids were everywhere, running to their next activity, or in most cases, dinner. 

Bravely, Lafayette and Hercules stepped through the throng of people, and shockingly, didn’t receive any more glances than usual. (People always seemed to look at Lafayette, which John and Hercules always assured them was because of their dazzling good looks.) 

“Huh. Maybe word hasn’t gotten around yet..” Lafayette started, but just then a group of young girls wrinkled their noses at the couple, whispering something about ungodly love.

“Aww babe, you jinxed it.” Hercules said loudly enough for the girls to hear, who upturned their noses and huffed away. 

Lafayette squeezed Hercules’ hand tighter and tried to conceal a laugh, failing miserably. The laugh only turned into a high pitched yelp when they tried to hide it, causing most of the people in the general area to glare at them. Hercules laughed loudly, a deep sound emitting from the pit of his stomach. 

They both laughed for so long, that soon they were the only people still standing there, and they were late for dinner.

“We need to go before all the food is gone! It’s chili night!” Hercules said urgently and out of breath, running towards the cafeteria and dragging Lafayette with him. 

When they entered the cafeteria, it was packed full with kids and Hercules made a beeline for the chili pot. Fortunately, there was still some left and Hercules eagerly filled up his plate. Lafayette looked apprehensively around at the sneering faces, searching desperately for a friendly face. Finally, someone smiled and waved at them. Much to Lafayette's surprise, it was Charles Lee. They remembered clearly when John broke his nose last year, so why would he be nice to Lafayette? Maybe he'd seen the error of his ways, Lafayette convinced themself as they led Hercules over to Lee's table once their plates were full. 

"Hello boys." Lee smiled.

Lafayette chose to ignore this misuse of pronouns, and gave Hercules a glance so that he would do the same. Didn't want to start this conversation out on the wrong foot. 

"Hello Charles, how are you?" Lafayette returned the smile eagerly, but Hercules wasn't convinced as he flashed Charles a cold stare, which Charles chose to ignore.

Soon, Lafayette and Charles were talking like old friends while Hercules sat grumpily next to them. Charles' eyes shifted slightly to the side, and if Lafayette had caught it and maybe turned around, I wouldn't have to relay this unfortunate event.

The cafeteria grew quieter but Lafayette didn't notice, they were talking loud enough for multiple people.

Then, Lafayette and Hercules felt an odd feeling of something squishing on their heads. The room was silent. Lafayette and Hercules were motionless, and then it hit them. It him them quite literally as they both grabbed a handful of what had just been thrown onto their heads. Chili. Both of the them slowly turned around to find all eyes on them, and instantly the sound of laughter began. Neither of them knew what to do. Both of them knew that Charles and James Madison, who threw the chili and outed them, deserved a good punch in the ribs. Both remembered what Mr. Washington said. Neutrality was their best option. 

"Oh c'mon big boy, I know you want to fight." Madison sneered at Hercules. That set Lafayette off. No one called Hercules big boy except them. They leapt up...but were immediately jerked away harshly. They struggled against the grip, and didn't even realize who it was until they were outside of the cafeteria.

"Wow...you're fast." Lafayette looked at Hercules, with mixed emotions. "They deserved..." They started, but were cut off. 

"Everything you were about to give them. But hey, I don't want to get in trouble. Washington would separate us. The isolation cabin is already occupied." Hercules said, always the voice of reason.

"I'm still hungry though." Lafayette said, defeated.

Hercules' face instantly brightened. "Well maybe we can sneak around tonight. In the kitchen."

Lafayette followed suit, a smile gracing their face. "Perfect. Let's get our spy on."

Both of them laughed and happily headed back to their cabin, excited about what the night would hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I wanted to thank everyone for sticking with me, this has been a very, very long journey in my first established fanfiction! The reaction towards this fic has been so incredible that it has inspired me to write much more, and I think I'm going to try and finish this fic! Thanks again everyone! As always, I love feedback and please let me know if I misgendered, because it is never intentional. :)


	10. hurricane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john and alex speak up about their pasts, while lafayette and hercules get their spy on.

Alex and John were in the lake, it was the middle of the night and John was naked. If someone had told Alex a few weeks ago that this was going to happen, he would never have believed them. But here he was. And there John was. And words couldn't express how he was feeling. He was feeling everything and it was like nothing he had ever experienced. John and him just waded in the water, looking at each other.

"I've never said any of that out loud before." John whispered.

"Are you glad you told me?" Alex asked earnestly, his eyes trailing over John's body and the rough scars. 

"Yes. Completely." John said firmly following Alex's eyes across his jagged chest. He wanted more than anything to embrace Alex, but deemed it inappropriate. After all, he was naked.

"Me too. I always want you to talk to me John. Always." Alex was at a loss for words for once. He had so many things he wanted to tell John, it just didn't seem like the right time. And how did he put all these feelings into words? 

But John did all of the talking for him. He gave Alex the stories behind many of his scars, like that one time his dad caught him sketching a study of the male anatomy and received a barbaric strike from a ruler, of all things. 

Eventually, they were both too cold to stay in the water any longer and bolted back to their cabin, anticipating the feeling of warmth from their covers. When they finally made it back, they rushed to the bathroom to wrap themselves in towels and Alex took off his wet shirt, utterly entrancing John. 

“We forgot to ask about the electricity, the lights still aren’t working.” Alex frowned.

“Ah, we’ll get to it tomorrow Alexander, let’s just warm up.” John rubbed the towel across his body and then left the room to grab some pajamas, while Alex snuck one final glance at his ass. John was extraordinary, and Alex wanted him to know it.

When Alex came out of the bathroom, John was already lying his bed with the covers tucked up to his chin, but he was still shivering. Alex climbed into his own bed, and beckoned John over, who confusedly obliged. 

“You’re cold. You’ll be warmer if we sleep together.” Alex smiled and John snuggled up under the covers, struggling to stay on the small bed without touching Alex. 

“Oh c’mon John, you can touch me.” Alex said, pulling John towards him. John gulped. He didn’t know if he could do this, but oh he wanted to. So he nestled his head into Alex’s chest and Alex wrapped his arms around John’s waist, causing him to inhale sharply.

“Are you ok John?” Alex’s arms tightened protectively around the boy. 

“Yes Alex. I’m perfect.”

“Yes you are.”

John and Alex both fell asleep smiling. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hercules and Lafayette were back in the cabin, both freshly showered and with chili-free hair. Lafayette’s stomach grumbled loudly and they whimpered at Hercules, who was deeply invested drawing in a notebook.

“Herc, I’m hungryyyy.” Lafayette flung themself dramatically across Hercules’ body, who reacted by merely moving his notebook out of the way.

“Babe, we have to wait until everyone’s asleep. And I haven’t finished our game plan.” Hercules knocked lightly on his notebook and Lafayette peered over the top, seeing an incomprehensible jumble of lines and circles. Hercules laughed at their confused look and resumed his concentrated scribbles. Lafayette stayed draped over Hercules, who absentmindedly batted their hair out of his face, while Lafayette watched with amusement. Hercules was so hot when he was doing the whole spying thing. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Hercules was done and ready to roll. The pair slipped out of the cabin, donned in all black, much to Lafayette’s chagrin.

“C’mon babe, can’t we at least look cute while spying? At least some colorful socks?” Lafayette whined.

Hercules didn’t even hear them, he was in the zone. He crept through the grass, with a couple of Olympic-worthy tumbles and gave Lafayette the “all clear” signal.

Lafayette loved him like this. Hercules was usually the strong, silent type, but this is when Hercules really went for it. He was his true self, and it was beautiful. And also seriously hilarious. But mostly beautiful.

After a couple minutes of crawling across camp, they made it to the mess hall. Now, this was the tricky part, but Hercules knew what to do. 

“Lafayette, hand me a bobby pin.” The seriousness in his tone was totally too much for the request.

“Oh honey, I hate to tell you this, but it won’t fit. You don’t have enough hair.” Lafayette patted their friend’s shoulder sympathetically. 

Hercules didn’t even reply, just held out his hand, and with a sigh, Lafayette handed one to him.  
Hercules bent the bobby pin until it was the shape he desired, and twisted it inside the keyhole of the kitchen door. He fiddled with it for a minute, and voila! The lock clicked and soon enough, they were inside. 

For two growing teenagers, the kitchen was heaven. It was stocked with food for 1,000 campers for the next week. Hercules tried to calculate how many sloppy joes that was, but he got distracted by all the other food around him.

“So what’s the plan, Herc? Lafayette whispered.

“The plan is to grab all the food your little arms can carry, and sneak out to the isolation cabin.” Hercules grinned. 

This was going to be fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex was rudely awoken by the worst nightmare he’d had in his life. He was panting and sweating, but feeling John safe in his arms helped him calm down a little bit. 

Alex smiled when he looked at John, his wild curls all over his face, with his mouth wide open. Alex absentmindedly brushed the hair away and studied John’s features. His freckles were a constellation of stars across his glowing skin. 

Alex took a deep breath and was transported back into horrible thoughts of what he'd just seen behind closed eyes. 

There was a giant man, tapping his fingers on his desk. His features were rough, but if you looked closely you could almost see what he used to be. Worry lines etched across his skin, brought about by age and stress. 

 

A young boy walked into the room, the absolute opposite of the man in front of him. He was the epitome of youth and beauty, and maybe that's why the man hated him so much. The boy was everything the man used to be, and he hated himself for changing, so he took out his frustration on this undeserving child. 

“You called for me father?” Even though he was filled to the brim with worry, he glowed.

“You got into a fight.” The man’s voice was cold and distant.

“Actually, he-” The child started.

“Don’t you dare talk back to me! Come get your punishment.” The man bellowed.

He was so, so young and so innocent. He didn't even hate his father until he was a teenager. It wasn't until then, after facing his whole life of emotional abuse, and five years of physical abuse, that he realized he wasn't doing anything wrong. 

“But, Father, I-”

And then it started. Alex tried to shake the horrible images out of his mind, but he couldn't. He was scarred by the boy’s strong silence and his father’s savagery. 

He thought about last night, and how brave John was. Even in the dark, Alex saw the dark etches of pink, a constant reminder of what John had been through. 

Alex wanted to do something, he felt like he had pushed John too far, and though he was glad he knew, he shouldn't push John any further. Now, the questions were burning inside of him more than ever. Would John ever go back home? Does he have anywhere else he could stay? And most of all: Would he want to stay with Alex? 

Silent tears fell down Alex's face and as much as he tried to avoid it, the silence broke with heavy sobs, waking up John. 

"Alex? What's wrong?" John sat up, rubbing his eyes together and pushing off the comforter. One of the buttons on his pajama top popped open, revealing one of his scars, to which Alex started crying harder.

“Oh. I’m...sorry Alex. I didn’t want to upset you, I just had to tell somebody and-” Alex couldn’t believe John was apologizing, after all he’d been through. 

“No John, it’s not that, I had a dream, well more like a nightmare really, about home. About my mother.” Alex lied. But he had been thinking about his mother. He thought about her every night before he fell asleep. He remembered how she tucked him in every night and told him a story, even when she was sick. 

“Really?” John was still skeptical, but didn’t want to call Alex out. He didn’t know much about Alex’s past, but he knew of its tragic ending.

Alex nodded and swallowed his tears. “I miss her. I miss her cooking, our house, her stories, everything. I miss it all.”

“Did she...pass in the hurricane?” John asked as gently as possible. 

“No, no. Five years ago, we got sick. Somehow, I got better, but my mother didn’t. I moved in with my cousin, who committed suicide. There was no one left for me, so I came here, to a new land.” Alex couldn’t look John in the eyes, he was afraid he would begin to cry.

Silence. Horrible silence ate away at the boys in the complete darkness, until John wrapped his arms around Alex. Alex melted into John and they just sat there, understanding all that wasn’t said in the quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I've finally continued writing this fic! I hope you enjoy this latest installment, and I promise to be updating more regularly, I already have a few more chapters written. As always, tell me what you think! Thanks to everyone who stuck with this fic :)


	11. what are we?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lafayette and hercules analyze their relationship.

Lafayette was out of breath. Herc was going so fast, they could barely keep up. 

“Babe, can we please slow down, just a little?” Lafayette panted.

“Laf, we have frozen food in our arms. It could melt and I’m pretty sure the isolation cabin doesn’t have a refrigerator!” Hercules, like his namesake, was toned. He was like a god and could probably lift a bus with those arms of his. This only left Lafayette more out of breath.

“Please...just give me...ten seconds.” Lafayette huffed. 

Hercules stopped in his tracks and turned to Lafayette. 

“Sorry. I’m just in the zone, you know? Here, let me help you.” He reached out and took some of the food from their outstretched arms. 

“No, no it’s okay. It’s very cute, but not all of us have godlike strength like you.” Lafayette regained some of their composure. 

“I wouldn’t say godlike…” Hercules grinned. 

“Oh, c’mon big boy, don’t be so modest.” Lafayette playfully slapped them. 

Hercules dropped the food from his arms. Fish sticks and chicken nuggets crashed to the forest floor as he threw himself onto Lafayette. He couldn’t help it. He had been waiting so long for this to happen, and even though they’d fucked just a few hours ago, he so desperately wanted to right here, right now. 

“Woah there!” Lafayette laughed. “I can’t believe you abandoned the fish sticks! What kind of sick monster are you?”

“One that’s going to eat you up.” Hercules only meant to be funny, but the words reverberated in the back of his throat, and it came out in a deep and husky tone.

Lafayette laughed nervously, and gently pushed Hercules away. “Let’s go, I miss John.” 

“Ah damn, I’m sorry Laf, I didn’t mean to-” Hercules started.

“Sorry for what?” Lafayette didn’t want to talk it, and assumed Hercules would get the hint to just drop it. Of course, that would be too easy. Nothing about Lafayette’s life was easy. 

“Well for, uh, attacking you like that. It’s just that, I’ve waited for you a for a long time and I’m a very...sexual being.” Hercules apologized.

Lafayette scoffed, and Hercules knew he had messed up. Whenever Laf made that little noise, it meant that a storm was coming.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry you had to wait so long for me! I apologize that I went through a sexual identity crisis and that I was too self-conscious to be with anybody!” Hercules, you didn’t even tell me you had feelings for me until this week, so you can’t blame your sexual frustration on me, ok? Did it ever occur to you that I might not be comfortable with sex?” Lafayette had run out of breath again, and Hercules had run out of words. But that didn’t last very long.

“Oh my god, oh my god I’m such a fucking idiot. I can’t believe I- I never thought- Wow. Why am I so stupid?” He ran his hands through his hair in exasperation.

“I agree. You are an idiot.” Lafayette said, quieter this time.

“I’m not very good with words. I had no intention of blaming you for how long it took me to tell you my feelings, that’s all on me.” Hercules tried to explain.

“Damn right it is.” Lafayette mumbled. 

“Yes, one hundred percent, all my fault. All of this is. I’m truly sorry I never asked you if you wanted to have sex, I just assumed you did once we climbed into bed together. That was wrong. I know how important consent is and I would never want to make you uncomfortable or scared. Ever.” Hercules raised his big puppy dog eyes to meet Lafayette’s, and they began to forgive him, just a little. 

“We never really talked about it. You being non-binary I mean. It was just something you told me one day, and I accepted it. It made sense to me. I’d known you for a long time, and this just seemed to fit. I was happy you were being the real you, and still am. Nothing was said other than that though. I didn’t ask very many questions, except the initial ones to understand the concept. I didn’t think about the uncertainty and fear that must go along with that and I should’ve talked to you about it. I should have been a better friend. Now too, I should have understood that sex might be a touchy subject. I was only thinking about myself.” He paused.

“Laf, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I don’t want to lose you. I would never have sex again if it meant I could still be with you.” Hercules reached out his hand to Lafayette, desperately hoping they would take it.   
“You would?” Lafayette was hopeful, but still skeptical.

“Of course, I-” Hercules began.

“Okay. I didn’t know where we stood. You told me how you felt, but all we’ve done is...physical stuff. I don’t know if we’re actually together, or “lovers” or some shit like that. I don’t know if this is just for the summer or what. I need to know where you stand Hercules.” Lafayette’s gaze was serious and determined. Hercules looked dumbstruck.

“I thought you knew...god, I really am bad with words aren’t I? I want to be together...but what about you?” Hercules gave Lafayette a wary smile.

“I asked you first. Elaborate. Tell me what “being together” means to you.” They were doing their best to look stony, but Lafayette was desperate. 

“Well, it means I want to date you, and only you. It means that you are my best friend and so much more. It means I want to shower you with kisses every second of every day. It means you’re the only person I talk about my emotions with, bad at it as I may be. It means I always want you by my side. It means I can’t live without you.” Hercules outstretched his hand again, and after a moment of nervous expectation, Lafayette took it, and that was all that needed to be said. They squeezed each other's hands and Lafayette offered Hercules a small smile, the most beautiful thing in the world.

“C’mon, I need to apologize to John for the outburst the other day. These fish sticks aren’t going to get to the isolation cabin themselves!” Lafayette’s words were as exuberant as ever, but their voice was small and their smile didn’t reach their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I apologize for the angsty chapter. Second, I promise I will try and be more diligent about updating, but senior year is extremely time consuming. Thank you to everyone for reading and sticking with me, and your sweet comments! They are what keep me going. So please, leave me any feedback you have!


	12. the element of surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john and alex are greeted with a big surprise.

“Did you hear that?” Alex whispered in the darkness. “John?” 

 

He shook the boy who was leaning on him. Nothing. How did he fall asleep like that? Never mind, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Alex heard a crunch of leaves, outside the isolation cabin, deep in the woods, late at night. 

 

“John!” He shook more vigorously this time, eyes wide in fear.

 

“Mmm?” John mumbled, shifting slightly, his hair brushing Alex’s cheek. 

 

“I think there’s someone outside!” Alex whisper-yelled, and as if on cue, the sound of leaves crunching filled the quiet, louder this time. 

 

“I’m sure it’s just the wind Alex, go back to sleep.” John turned over, snuggling into the covers, unconcerned. He’d been to camp enough times to know that ninety-nine percent of the time, the concerning noises heard in the nighttime were natural. 

 

“I’m scared.” Alex said it so quietly, he was surprised John heard. 

 

“Why? There’s nothing to be afraid of.” John said, in the tone of a concerned parent. 

 

“I’ve never liked the dark and...I’ve just seen so many horrible things that I’m reminded of in the nighttime.” Alex believed the darkness was like the eye of a hurricane: still and quiet, but deadly. 

 

“Nothing bad will happen to you while I am here. I promise. I’ll protect you.” John said it with such fierce determination, that Alex believed him. 

 

“Thank you, I-” Alex started, but was interrupted by an unwanted sound. 

 

The screen door of the cabin screeched open, and two dark figures stood in the doorway. Alex hopped onto John and gripped him tightly, but John was squinting in the dark. Those figures looked familiar…

 

“Mon ami!” One of the figures yelled, and John hopped up. Well, he tried. First he had to extract Alex from his arm.

 

“Alex! It’s ok! It’s our friends!” John’s smile spread wide across his face.

 

“Friends?” Alex said, like it was a foreign concept to him.

 

“Yes! Lafayette and Hercules! Now will you please let go?” John jumped in place impatiently.

 

“Oh.” Alex released his strong grip and John bounded to the door.

 

“Where are you? I can’t see. We forgot to get that damn light fixed.” John blindly waved his hands around the doorway, and smacked Lafayette in the nose. They laughed and grabbed John’s hand. 

 

“Here, with Hercules, and a couple of our fishy friends.” They smiled and turned to look at Hercules, but couldn’t see his expression in the dark.

 

“Huh?” John scrunched up his nose in confusion.

 

“We’ll explain later. Now, give me a hug.” Lafayette extended their arms, and John happily folded himself in them.

 

“I missed you guys so much.” He said into Lafayette’s shoulder.

 

“So did we.” Lafayette sighed in relief. 

 

John looked up and met eyes with Hercules. 

 

“Herc! C’mere!” John untangled himself from Lafayette and attached himself to Hercules. 

 

“Hey buddy, how’s the isolation cabin been treating you?” He patted John on the back. 

 

“It’s not all bad. Right Alex?” John looked over at Alex, sitting cross legged on the bed. 

 

“Mmhm.” Alex hummed in a high pitched tone, feigning agreement, while still managing to sound sarcastic and bitter. It was a mumble that contained a lot of substance. 

 

“At least we have pretty girls delivering our meals every day.” Alex muttered, avoiding the eyes of the now crestfallen John.

 

“Alex! How is the little warrior doing?” Lafayette always seemed to be able to ease the tension. Well, almost always. 

 

“Fine.” Alex replied curtly. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk to John’s friends, who, last time they visited, almost made John cry. And who was there to help pick up the pieces? Alex. Not Laf, not Hercules, but Alex. He had been there for John these few days while his “friends” had done nothing but upset him.

 

“So...you’re not still mad at me?” John looked at Hercules, who seemed to be making a tower out of...fish sticks?

 

“Oh, John! I’m so sorry. I was never mad at you. It’s a really funny story actually- you wanna tell him babe?” Lafayette grinned at Hercules.

 

“I think you kind of just did.” Hercules smiled. Things were back to normal and the Revolutionary Crew were reunited. 

 

“Wait a minute...are you guys together?” John practically squealed. 

 

“Yes!” Lafayette bounced on their toes in excitement. 

 

John made a little scream and jumped around with Lafayette, to which Alexander and Hercules simultaneously raised an eyebrow. Hercules gave Alex a small smile and walked over to him. Hercules was a quiet type, so he could always tell when someone was lonely. 

 

“Is he always like this?” Hercules joked. 

 

Alex shrugged in a noncommittal way. 

 

“Jealous much?” Hercules laughed. “Don’t worry, John is just our friend.”

 

“Huh?” Alex looked up, wide eyed. 

 

“You couldn’t be more obvious, but hey, neither could John.” Alex looked up in shock.

 

“What? No. You haven’t even been around us, he-” Alex said unconvincingly. 

 

“I don’t have to be around you. I could tell from the first moment he laid eyes on you. And if that wasn’t enough, see the way he looks at you now.” Alex looked confused, but he turned over and saw John’s eyes locked on him, in a dreamy yet concerned gaze, having a hasty conversation with Lafayette. 

 

“You really think so?” Alex whispered, still looking in astonishment at John who gave him a little wave. 

 

“I say go for it. I waited way too long to tell Lafayette how I felt about them. Plus, you’re in the isolation cabin for a few more days.” Hercules smirked at Alex, who couldn’t help but laugh.

 

Meanwhile, a similar conversation took place across the room.

 

“I really like him Laf. We understand each other and he’s just so..I don’t even know how to put it into words. He’s amazing.” John said nervously.

 

“That’s wonderful John! You’ve fallen in love.” Lafayette grinned from ear to ear. What a hopeless romantic they were. 

 

“I’m having a hard time suppressing the urge to kiss him though. I mean, we are all alone most of the time.” John flicked his thigh, a nervous habit. 

 

“Then do it.” John laughed. “No really, John, I think you should. It’s obvious he wants it too, I can see it in the way he stares.” Lafayette nudged John and exchanged a knowing glance with Hercules. If these boys couldn’t figure it out themselves, they would have to intervene. That’s what friends are for, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this recent installment of my fic, and thanks for reading! I've gotten back into writing this thanks to the pbs hamilton documentary (if you haven't seen it, go watch it now, it's amazing) as always, leave comments below on any thoughts, they always make my day! feel free to contact me on tumblr @oscorp xx


	13. the accidental sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hercules and Lafayette accidentally sleepover at the isolation cabin, which could cause even more trouble for John and Alex.

Soon after Hercules and Lafayette arrived at the cabin, everyone fell asleep. It was the middle of the night after all when Herc and Laf had rolled in. They were sprawled across each other on the tiny bed, Lafayette’s long legs hanging off with Hercules pushed up against the wall.   
John was the last one up, or so he thought. He glanced over at the bed where Alex was sleeping and balled his fists. It was so hard for him to control himself when Alex’s lush hair grazed his cheek and John could feel his soft breaths against his skin. The small space between them was almost tangible, and the knowledge that if he moved half an inch he would be touching Alex was enough to keep John up all night. Alas, he had no other choice. He crawled into the covers and tried to stay as far away from Alex as possible.

Alex was not asleep, but he’d gotten quite good at pretending to be. When John climbed into bed, Alex fought to keep a smile from spreading across his face. He wanted nothing more to touch John’s silky, safe skin. After a brutal minute of having his body on fire with desire, Alex let out a snore and rolled over onto John, placing his head on John’s chest and hand over his stomach. A feeling of security washed over him, and he fell asleep instantly.

John, on the other hand, was up for hours. He instantly gasped when Alex rolled onto him, and had been trying to regulate his breathing ever since. In-two-three, out-two-three he repeated over and over again in his head, trying to avoid looking at the boy curled up next to him. This went on until the sun rose over the trees and John was bathed in light. He found himself absentmindedly stroking Alex’s hair and wondered how long he’d been doing it, it felt so natural now. It didn’t dawn on John that Lafayette and Hercules weren’t supposed to be there until he saw Eliza making her way towards the cabin. 

John immediately leaped out of bed and sprinted to Lafayette and Hercules, shaking them as hard as he could, which Hercules did not appreciate. He punched John in the nose.

“Dammit Herc, what was that for?” John recoiled.

“Aw shit John, you scared me. Sorry.” Herc sat up groggily.

“It is the spy in you mon amour. You can’t trust anybody.” Lafayette opened their eyes and sat up slowly, rubbing Hercules’s back and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Bonjour Lafayette.” Hercules grinned. 

At this point, Alex woke up to John screaming curse words whilst gripping his nose and Hercules and Lafayette gazing into each other's eyes lovingly. 

“What the hell is going on?” Alex cried, at the exact moment the door squeaked open, and Eliza walked in.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at the girl. Would she tell her father and get them kicked out of camp? Would she blackmail them? Either way, they were in big trouble.

“Yeah, what Alex said.” Eliza raised an eyebrow at them, to which Lafayette laughed nervously and went up to introduce themself.

“Bonjour, je m’appelle Lafayette. It is a pleasure to meet you.” They bowed and kissed her hand, to which John rolled his eyes and stepped in between them.

“I’m so sorry, my friends just came by last night to check on us and make sure we were ok. They didn’t intend on staying the night, we all just...fell asleep.” John attempted to appease her while clutching his, now bloody, nose. 

“It’s called the isolation cabin for a reason you know.” Eliza maintained her glare.

“Funny, that’s exactly what your sister said yesterday.” Alex walked in front of John, smiling charmingly at Eliza, and she lost her composure, breaking out a grin. 

“Oh Alexander, you know this was against the rules.” Eliza attempted to scold, but it came out in a playful tone. 

“I know Eliza, and I promise it won’t happen again. Lafayette and Hercules just wanted to make sure we were ok. See, look at all this food they brought us.” He gestured to the tower of fish sticks. “They of course, didn’t know how well provided for we are.” Alex gazed at Eliza meaningfully, making her blush. 

At this, John scoffed and went to the bathroom, muttering about cleaning up his nose.

Eliza looked closer at all the food Lafayette and Hercules had brought, and began to giggle. “But..those fish sticks are frozen, and there isn’t any fridge in here! Or a microwave!” Alex began to laugh with her, and they doubled over, gripping each other's arms.

Lafayette glanced at Hercules, who ever-so-dramatically threw himself face first onto the bed at their blunder. “The whole mission was a failure.” He muttered into the pillow.

“Oh Hercules, it was not a failure, not even in the slightest. We made it here with the food, didn’t we? And we know that Alex and John are fine. Wasn’t that the mission? To make sure our friends are ok?” Lafayette rubbed Hercules’s back, who flipped over to gaze up at them.

“What are we going to do with the fish sticks?” He whispered, causing both of them to burst out laughing. 

John walked out of the bathroom, massaging his nose, immediately annoyed at everyone having a good time without him. 

“What’s so funny?” John said with a distinct edge to his voice. 

“John! Eliza has decided to let it slide, just this once. Isn’t that great?” Alex and Eliza turned to smile at each other. 

“Oh yes, Eliza is just the greatest.” John replied through gritted teeth. 

“Is something wrong John?” Alex let go of the concerned Eliza and walked towards John. 

“Other than the fact that my nose is completely fucked up, no, not really, Alex.” John snarled. 

Hercules opened his mouth to apologize, but Lafayette stopped him, looking eagerly at Alex.

“Oh God John, I’m so sorry. I was just preoccupied, making sure we didn’t get into any more trouble, but you’re more important.” Alex said sincerely. 

“Of course. You don’t really like me, you just wanted me to keep my mouth shut!” Eliza stormed out of the cabin.

“Eliza…” Alex started, but she was already gone. He shrugged and stepped closer to John to analyze his injury.

“Aren’t you going to chase after her?” John avoided looking at Alex’s intent gaze and tried not to think of how close together their lips were. 

“Huh?” Alex was focused on John’s nose. “No, I..uh, no. John, we need to get you to the infirmary.”

“Really?” John tried to mask his surprise. His nose didn’t hurt too bad, he had only mentioned it because he was jealous.

“Yes. Are you dizzy? Do you need to lean on me?” Alex looked concernedly into John’s eyes and he melted.

“Now that I think about it I am feeling a little woozy…” Not a lie. Alexander made his knees weak. 

Alex wrapped his arm around John’s back and gripped him tightly. “Better?”

“Better.” John smiled. 

“Dude I am sooo sorry.” Hercules exclaimed, hand over his mouth and eyes wide. “I really hope I didn’t fuck up your nose forever.”

“That would be a travesty. John has a very cute nose. Don’t you think so Alex?” Lafayette nodded towards Alex. 

“Yes. Gorgeous. We need to go.” Alex said quickly and took a few small steps with John. “Is that ok John?” His voice dripped with true heart.

“Yes, Alex. Fine thank you. And for the record, I think your nose is glorious.” Alex blushed and led John outside, leaving Lafayette to jump around Hercules giddily. 

“I’m orchestrating a love story! This is going to be better than Titanic!” They clapped.

“I sure hope so, doesn’t everyone die in Titanic?” Hercules raised an eyebrow. 

“Yes, but love surpasses death Hercules.” They rolled their eyes at their boyfriend. Herc didn’t understand true romance.

At that moment, Hercules had the most perfect idea. He was going to surprise Lafayette with something romantic. It would be the best act of stealth he’d ever pulled off if Laf didn’t figure it out. 

“Oh. Right.” Hercules smiled, pulling Lafayette into a kiss.

This was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! it's been quite a while since my last update, but i'm trying to finish out this fic and persevere! as always, i absolutely love feedback, so leave me comments (they never cease to make my day) or reach out to me on tumblr @oscorp. thanks for sticking with me guys! xoxo


	14. the infirmary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex takes john to the infirmary, bitterness ensues.

John and Alex hobbled over to the infirmary, which was halfway across camp, giving them plenty of time to talk.

“I’m sorry about Eliza, Alex.” John muttered, keeping his eyes firmly planted on the ground.

“What? Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong John.” Alexander struggled to meet John’s eyes. He didn’t believe John ever did anything wrong, and wanted him to know that.

“Well I know you like her and-” John breathed sheepishly before Alex cut him off. 

“I don’t like her.” Alex said quietly, gazing at the ground, as John finally lifted his eyes.

“But you were talking about how beautiful she was…?” John shook his head, daring to hope.

“She is a very beautiful girl, but that doesn’t mean I like her in a romantic way. Besides, she’s not really my type.” Alexander grinned and snuck a glance at John. 

“Oh, so you’re one of those guys, who can categorize everyone they’re attracted to.” John chuckled. It was an odd thought. The only category that everyone that he had liked fit in is that they were all boys. And he couldn’t figure out what type Alexander was even if he tried, he was a unique being. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say categorize...I’d say there are certain qualities that the people I give my heart to must possess.” Alex nodded, sure of himself.

“And those are…?” John grinned in anticipation and maneuvered his head under Alex’s briefly to get his attention. 

Alex chuckled lightly and glanced ahead, deep in thought. After a moment he replied, “They must be daring and bold, a fighter of sorts, who stands up for what they believe in, and stand up for those who cannot themselves. They must be full of love, for humanity, nature, art, and well...me. They must be selfless and kind, and most importantly, show strength and resilience in times of trouble, but still manage to be gentle and beautiful.” Alex kept his gaze focused on the tall trees outstretched in front of them, eyeing their open branches, holding no fear, so inviting, and that was how he felt. He was incredibly nervous around John, but also felt free to be himself. It was exhilarating. 

“That’s an oddly specific description. Does someone hold that heart of yours already?” John’s voice shook despite his careful and slow words, but Alex was not fazed by it, in fact, he seemed completely relaxed, unlike John, who was hanging on Alex’s every word. 

“I’m not sure if I should say yet. I don’t know if they feel the same way.” Alex finally turned and looked at John, looking almost inquisitorial, but John could not tell. Alex did a far better job of masking his emotions than John. 

As if John weren’t embarrassed enough, his nosebleed, which had been slowing down, decided to start gushing out, full throttle, all over himself, and even spraying flecks on Alex’s arms. John began to curse profusely, and his face turned a shade of red so deep that it mimicked the blood that was now everywhere. 

“Oh John, it’s okay, you’re okay…” Alex was rubbing John’s arms, attempting to comfort him, but that only made him deeper infuriated.

“No! It’s not!” John was upset about so many things. The timing of his nosebleed, how incredibly embarrassing it was, how much he wanted Alex, how Alex’s “type” sounded a lot like him but he didn’t want to be too sure of himself, and now he was going to be stuck in the infirmary. 

“C’mon let’s just try and book it to the infirmary. Is this too fast?” Alex’s eyes were full of concern and urgency, either not realizing or choosing to ignore John’s breakdown. John simply grunted and picked up his pace so that he was ahead of Alex. He couldn’t stand to look into those kind eyes.

They soon arrived, and John threw open the door, causing the nurse to scream. John hadn’t thought of how his demeanor mixed with his appearance probably presented him in a horrifying way. An angry man covered in blood storming in? Not a pretty picture. He instantly attempted to better his appearance, sorry for having scared the little old woman. He opened his mouth to explain what happened, but Alex beat him to it. 

“My friend John accidentally got hit by our friend and his nose started bleeding and it was beginning to stop but then it started to get really bad and it’s everywhere and it’s really bad and fix it please!” Alex spit all of this out in one breath and nearly collapsed into a nearby chair. 

“Oh dear, that is a lot of blood, but don’t worry, I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” The nurse gave John a small smile and began to lead him deeper into the infirmary. “As for you dear, you need to sit down and drink some water.” She said to Alex.

“I’ll be fine...I want to stay with John, make sure he’s ok.” Alex’s eyes were unfocused and he swayed as he stood, but John still hadn’t turned to look at him.

The nurse shrugged and allowed Alex to follow them into a room where she performed various procedures. John finally lifted his eyes to Alex as she began to mop away excess blood, but found that Alex wasn’t even looking in his general direction. He scoffed, which the nurse interpreted. 

“I’m sorry honey, did I hurt you?” She exclaimed sweetly, examining John’s face for any sign of injury. 

“Oh no, you didn’t hurt me at all.” John replied, shooting a sharp glance in Alex’s direction, who still didn’t bother to look at him. 

“I’m going to get some water.” Alex muttered at the ground and left the room, to which John rolled his eyes.

“I think something’s bothering your friend.” The nurse whispered, but not before glancing around to make sure Alex was gone. 

“Yeah, I think my nosebleed ruined his plans for the day.” John replied, his voice dripping with malice.

John didn’t have any real reason to be angry at Alex, really it was his love for him that was making him act this way. The notion of Alex caring for someone else hurt him so badly he couldn’t focus on anything else, even when he had blood all over his body. And when Alex couldn’t even look at him...it destroyed John.

“He’s very lightheaded, he could barely stand when you arrived.” She continued to dab John’s face with a washcloth.

“What?” John snapped to attention, and Alex returned with a cup of water. 

“I’m going to get another washcloth.” The nurse left the two boys alone, John wide-eyed, Alex struggling to meet his gaze. 

“Your face is starting to look like itself again.” Alex gave John a small smile, keeping his gaze above John’s shoulders, below which was still covered with blood.

“Is something wrong?” John sternly but softly asked Alex.

“Oh yes, I was just worried about you, that’s all.” Alex gave a light and unconvincing chuckle.

“Tell me the truth.” John stated softly, and Alex soon broke. He couldn’t lie to John.

“I don’t like blood.” He replied quickly and glanced up at the ceiling.

John’s face instantly softened, and he wished to envelop Alexander in a hug, but that wouldn’t help, as his clothes were still splattered with blood.

The nurse then strode in with a new washcloth and a fresh set of clothes with the Camp Revolutionary insignia, right as John opened his mouth.

“Can you take off your shirt for me?” The nurse asked, pouring water onto the washcloth.

John froze, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, looking to Alex for support, who immediately came through.

“Thank you for all your help, but I’m sure you have patients to attend to who need you more than we do, John and I can take it from here.” Alex smiled brightly, and the nurse left the room, assuming he was embarrassed to undress in front of her. 

John’s eyes were downcast and he rubbed his fingers across the shirt material as Alex shut the door.

“John…” Alex began, not exactly sure what to say for once in his life.

“I’m fine.” John curtly responded, but a crack in his voice betrayed the words.

John hopped up on the table next to him, despite his own fears. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Alex took a deep breath and lightly took the hem of John’s shirt into his hands, waiting for his consent to remove it. John lifted his hands above his head and Alex removed the shirt slowly, each inch revealing a few more scars, unwelcome on the beautiful, soft skin of this boy. 

John had an involuntary sharp intake of breath as the shirt was removed and Alex instinctively took his hand and raised it to his lips, planting a small kiss, restraining himself from any more. John was slightly relieved, but Alex was looking into his eyes, and not his chest, where the real horrors lie. Alex had only seen John’s scars once before, and the darkness of that night on the lake was far more forgiving than the fluorescent lights of the infirmary. Alex was reassured that John’s chest only had a few specks of blood on it, and he began to carefully inspect the scars.

He looked up at John every few seconds to be sure he was not overstepping, but John only stared at him with fearful anticipation. Alex’s eyes danced from scar to scar, feeling the pain of each one as if it were his own, longing to erase them with kisses. His eyes soon found a gash on the edge of John’s ribcage, long and bruised, it looked fresh and especially cruel. Alex narrowed his eyes and looked closer, unintentionally brushing his finger across it, feeling the ridged and bumpy texture. John flinched and Alex jumped back suddenly. 

“I’m so-” Alex began to whisper, wide-eyed, but John cut him off.

“Alexander, Alexander, don’t apologize. You surprised me is all. I’m not used to a soft touch... in that region.” He gestured to all of the scars covering his chest and stomach. “But...it’s nice.” John smiled, tears dotting his eyes. He wasn’t used to so much love and affection.

Alex’s eyes were full of sadness, but that wasn’t all. There was a component there John couldn’t identify. Alex’s mouth opened to say something, but he decided against it. Instead he reached his hand towards John’s face and-

“You changed yet dear?” The nurse’s voice rang outside of the door and both of the boys cursed internally. 

“Almost!” The boys chimed in unison. John quickly threw garments on and off haphazardly and Alex made his way to the door. Momentarily, John finished and Alex opened the door and forced a smile. 

“Wonderful. Ok John, you are completely fine, but I would recommend you resting here for a few hours, there are a few beds set up in the back.” The nurse smiled and gestured for John to follow her. “Oh Alex, you may leave, John is okay, I promise. I’m sure you have many activities to do today!” She obviously was unaware that the boys would not be participating in any activities in the isolation cabin.

“I don’t mind. I’d like to keep John company.” John gave Alex a thankful glance.

“What a good friend you are!” She sung as they turned the corner into the rest area.

“Oh yes, isn’t he the greatest?” A snarling voice came from inside, a voice the boys instantly recognized. 

“Thomas Jefferson.” Alex boomed in a fake-friendly voice, turning to see the snide boy lying in a bed, with a cast satisfyingly covering his arm. “How are you?” Alex let out a genuine grin at Jefferson’s pain. 

John nervously glanced at Jefferson and Alexander staring off. This was not going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy valentine's day! here is an update, as promised. please leave me a comment below and let me know what you thought! <3


	15. hello thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john talks to jefferson at the infirmary, hercules and lafayette have a talk about their relationship.

Hercules and Lafayette were forced to resume their participation in normal camp activities, which they normally would never be opposed to, but that meant they weren’t together every second of the day. The situation was especially devastating because they were now pariahs. Word had gotten out to everyone about the food fight, and if not that, their association with the “gay island kid who socked Jefferson.” No one dared speak to them, all they ever received were minimally sympathetic glances that told Hercules and Lafayette they were sorry, but not enough to put themselves in danger of social purgatory. In years past, none of that would have mattered, in fact, they probably would have found it humorous, but in years past, they had John, and they weren’t dating. Of course, they adored each other and were jubilant to have taken their friendship to the next level, it was just...different. Suddenly, all the taunts and ridicule that had been thrown at them for years were starting to hurt. Something about presenting their relationship in a different way to the world, though they were less insecure with each other, channeled that insecurity into others opinions. It was even harder when they were apart. Hercules walked into arts and crafts and all empty seats magically disappeared. Lafayette walked into canoeing, and every boat was instantly full. It was almost enough to make them just go home. Almost, but nights alone in their cabin saved them. 

“I don’t know what I would do without you Lafayette.” Hercules sighed, playing with their curls and cuddling after an intense make-out session. 

Lafayette was deep in thought, and Hercules’s words only accelerated their mind. They had been thinking about the fight them and Hercules had on the way to the isolation cabin, and how they had left a lot of things unsaid. Hercules had always been fairly open about his feelings, and Lafayette had a wall that came up when they were in a relationship that came with being non-binary. Sure, they had been angry at Hercules for his inconsideracy, but he really hadn’t meant to be that way and had definitely righted his wrongs. He even told Lafayette how he really felt, and what he wanted them to be, and it was beautiful. Lafayette had never told him if he wanted their relationship to be serious, and it was about high time to do so.

“Hercules, I was thinking about our fight the other day..” Lafayette began, noticing the stroking of their curls had come to a halt. 

“I’m so sorry, I know I haven’t told you enough. Did I not ask you if kissing was okay enough times?” Hercules was so incredibly sincere, which made Lafayette giggle. Hercules really was the most considerate boyfriend. 

“Non mon amour, you were wonderful.” In fact, Hercules had asked Lafayette if what he was doing was okay anytime he moved his hands or lips to a new location. It was aggravatingly adorable. 

“You’re sure?” Hercules nudged Lafayette’s shoulder so they would look him in the eyes. Lafayette gave him a reassuring look that satisfied Hercules, so he continued. “Ok, if it’s not that, then what is it?” Hercules sat up in the bed, forcing Lafayette to do the same. 

“You told me that you always want me by your side, that you couldn’t live without me. You want to date me, and only me.” Lafayette glanced at Hercules nervously, whose face had fallen. 

“I shouldn’t have been so forward, we’ve only just started dating...can we just back up?” Hercules looked up at Lafayette pleadingly, who was surprised at his response. Hercules always meant what he said, and rarely went back on it. 

“Is that really what you want?” Lafayette didn’t know what “backing up” meant exactly, but that was not where they had envisioned the conversation going. 

“Is that what you want?” Hercules knew nothing of Lafayette’s feelings and didn’t want to put himself anymore out in the open until he knew what they wanted. It was selfish of him to have confessed his extreme love to Lafayette, the intensity could have pressured them to try and feel the same. It only led to an awkward situation for the both of them if Lafayette felt any less, which they must. 

“Are you really going to make me do this?” Lafayette breathed, only sort of joking. They hated having to reveal vulnerability. 

“I’m not going to make you do anything Laf, it would just be nice to know how you feel before we go any further so no one gets hurt. I don’t know what you want.” Hercules spoke gently but his words stabbed Lafayette. They hadn’t realized they could have been hurting Hercules by keeping him in the dark. 

“You are the most considerate person I’ve ever met. I want to be yours today, tomorrow, and after camp. You are my best friend...and my soulmate.” Their words were few and not nearly as poetic as Hercules’s, but they did the trick. Hercules immediately broke out into a huge grin. 

“Can I kiss you?” He and Lafayette both began to laugh and Lafayette mashed their lips together. They felt more relieved than they had ever been. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nurse had left, and the passive aggressive smalltalk exchanged between Alexander and Jefferson turned into nasty insults. They hissed at each other for a while, giving John and headache, and it wasn’t long until he was included in the conversation. 

“Your boyfriend on his period?” Jefferson sneered, gesturing to a spot of blood on John’s thigh he had neglected to wash off. Alexander propelled himself forward, but John yanked him by the collar. 

“C’mon John, I can take this guy!” Alex’s eyes were still glaring at Jefferson, not noticing the distinct edge in John’s voice.

“We all know that! That’s why he’s here, you don’t need to prove it again!” John whipped Alex around so he could see his annoyed expression.

“What’s the problem? I’m standing up for you!” Alex seemed genuinely confused. 

“He’s not worth it Alexander, and violence doesn’t solve everything.” John reprimanded Alex like a puppy, and to his surprise, he obeyed. 

“You’re right.” Alexander nodded to John, looking ashamed. 

“I am?” John’s voice mirrored how shocked he was.   
“He is?” Jefferson chimed in. This kid he barely even knew pummeled him a few days ago, and now he was just going to stand down because his friend asked nicely. 

“Yes. And you need rest.” Alex pulled the blankets on the bed up to John’s chin and began to tuck him in. Jefferson was too astonished to come back with a sub-par taunt. 

“I’m fine, I’m really not tired..” John began but Alex shushed him and planted a kiss on his forehead, stunning him into silence. 

“Sleep. I’ll be in the reception area. I think I saw the latest issue of Good Housekeeping and I’ve been meaning to get my hands on it.” John couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. At this point, nothing would surprise him. 

John quickly fell asleep, and the last thing he saw was Jefferson’s mouth hanging open, his wide eyes frantically flicking back and forth from John to Alex’s retreating figure. 

John awoke to the sight of Jefferson picking a piece of food out of his teeth. How lovely. John glanced away, shaking his head, and heard a sharp intake of breath. Jefferson opened his mouth to throw an insult at John, but quickly shut his mouth and turned away. That was odd. In all the years John had known Jefferson, he’d never held back a sneer. He never seemed to really have anything against John specifically, that’s just how he was. John decided he wanted to know what the sudden change was. Did it have to do with Alex?

“Hello Thomas.” John started, making Jefferson jump. 

“No one calls me that.” Jefferson muttered, not looking over at John. 

“But that’s your name?” John asked. 

“What do you want Laurens?” Jefferson’s had a twinge of fear in it, something John had never heard before. 

“I’m just making conversation. We’ve spent all these summers together, and never really talked.” John suddenly wanted to know what Jefferson’s deal was. Maybe it was because of Alex, or Jefferson’s shift in behavior, but he needed answers. 

“Is Alex actually your boyfriend?” Jefferson blurted, seeming to regret the words the instant they left his mouth. A number of things about this question surprised John. First of all, the tone in which Jefferson asked was not harsh or insulting, it was desperate and curious. Second of all, he used Alex’s first name, which John had never heard him do with anyone. Lastly, he seemed incredibly embarrassed and slightly hopeful afterwards. 

“No.” John answered. Not yet, he wanted to say. “Why do you ask?” He spoke calmly, but he was full of anticipation and confusion. 

Jefferson merely shrugged, and the boys sat in silence awkwardly. Finally Jefferson sighed, and muttered a barely audible “I’m sorry.” John wasn’t sure he had heard correctly, and was taken aback. Without thinking, he bellowed “What?” laughing at the crazy events of the day.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know for sure that you were actually gay, and that’s not something anyone should make fun of. I only did it because of my own...insecurities.” Jefferson kept his eyes down on his hands as he twiddled his thumbs. 

“I forgive you. I’m not ashamed of it, and no one should be. And should you ever want to let go of your...insecurities, and you should, I’m a very good listener.” John was careful to speak soon after Jefferson opened up, he assumed the boy would revert to his old, closed up self momentarily and wanted to help him while he could. 

Jefferson gave a nod, all the while still twiddling his thumbs and keeping his eyes away from John. John was happy to have gotten through to him, but was worried about what exactly brought about these feelings in Jefferson, he seemed to have quite a fixation on Alexander…

“I thought I heard your adorable chuckle.” Alex was leaning on the doorway and grinning at John with stars in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re awake. You ready to go back home?” Alex looked momentarily shaken at his choice of words, but stood by it. The cabin felt like home to him now, but only because his home was with John. 

“Yes.” A grin spread across John’s face and he hopped out of bed. “Goodbye Jefferson, I hope you feel better soon.” Jefferson made no move to respond, and fortunately, Alexander didn’t say anything, he was only focused on John, and held his arm out for the boy. 

John rolled his eyes lightheartedly and slipped his hand into the crook of Alexander’s arm, frolicking out of the infirmary. 

They engaged in lighthearted conversation on the long, woodsy path back. Alex relayed to John that he fixed the faulty light bulb in their cabin, granting him a high-five, and that he left John food from lunch, which he didn’t eat with immense difficulty. 

As soon as they knew it, the boys were back at the cabin, still smiling goofily at each other with John’s hand resting on Alex’s arm. It was then that John decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He was going to kiss that beautiful boy, and he was going to do it tonight. 

“How do you fancy a swim in the lake tonight?” John turned to Alex before opening the door, looking him straight in the eyes. He was on a mission. 

Alex’s face went blank, but only momentarily until he broke out into an even larger grin, puffing out his cheeks and making his eyes all squinty. John noticed the corner of his mouth hid a bit of mischief. 

“I fancy it. I fancy it very much.” Alex’s words were far less romantic than usual, but neither of the boys minded. They couldn’t take their eyes off of each other, and it took ages for them to get inside. 

Both stared wistfully out of the window, pleading the sun to make its descent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finally finished writing this fic! Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter, but there is only a bit left! I want to thank all of you for your support and I hope you stick around and enjoy the tail end of this work. I always love hearing your feedback and opinions so leave them in the comments section below xoxo


	16. finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> our friends get the ending they deserve.

Hercules was attempting to pull off his biggest caper yet: He was going to surprise Lafayette. It may not sound like much, but Lafayette’s observation skills were far beyond anything Hercules could have imagined. He couldn’t possibly plan anything with them around, much less a romantic evening. 

“Whatcha doin babe?” Lafayette hopped onto bed and Hercules hastily shut his notebook, to which Lafayette raised one perfectly filled in eyebrow. 

“Oh you know...spy stuff.” Hercules laughed uncomfortably. For a spy, he was not a very good liar. At least, not with Lafayette.

“Let me see it then.” Lafayette’s smile wavered as Hercules began to put the notebook away. 

“It’s nothing really, it’s stupid.” Hercules’s face turned a pink hue as he unconvincingly created lies. 

“If it’s nothing then why won’t you let me see it?” Lafayette’s voice wavered with not anger, but fear. What could it be that Hercules wanted to keep hidden from them?

“It’s...not done! Ha! You can’t see it until I’m finished!” Hercules snapped his fingers as he discovered the perfect cover, which was in fact the truth.

Lafayette did not seem completely assured, but they didn’t press Hercules any further. They supposed they would just have to wait and see. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun had finally set and both John and Alex were giddy with anticipation and expectations of what the night would hold. 

John couldn’t take looking that beautiful boy in the eyes any longer without being able to lose himself to Alexander. He wanted to pour his soul into the plump lips of the masterpiece that was Alexander Hamilton.

Alex couldn’t believe it. John Laurens, John Fucking Laurens, the single most perfect being in the universe had invited him to the secluded lake, in the dark. Alex couldn’t help but think of the implications of the invitation, and all comprehensible thought was lost to deep desire for the boy he’d been unsuccessfully hiding. 

“I think it’s high time for a swim don’t you?” John hopped off the bed he and Alex had been perching on silently for the past few hours.

Alex jumped up at the sudden noise and shot up out of the bed, accidentally hitting John’s nose in the process.

“Damn! I’m so sorry John, is your nose ok? We just got it fixed!” Alex’s eyes were wide as he searched John’s face for sign of pain, but all he found was amusement. 

“I’m fine Alexander. Why so jumpy?” John brushed a long strand of hair out of the boy’s face and tucked it behind his ear. John felt a slight twinge of fear at Alexander’s incredulous reaction, but regained his courage quickly when the other boy broke into a massive smile. 

Alexander shrugged and laughed, opening and closing his mouth, trying to form coherent speech. He had no words, only raw emotion. 

“Let’s go.” John stood and outstretched his hand towards Alexander, who looked up with wide eyes full of uncertainty, but all of that was alleviated when John gave him a small smile and extended his hand even further. 

Alexander couldn’t be misreading the situation, right? John was literally reaching out to him, and he didn’t feel any safer than when he was with the boy, and hoped he felt the same. 

John did, of course, feel the same, and that’s why he was slowly but surely leading Alexander out of the cabin and into the darkness. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What is going on Hercules?” Lafayette had walked into the dark cabin only to be tackled by their boyfriend. Hercules’s hands covered Lafayette’s face as he was pushed back outside. 

“I just need a few more minutes...wait here.” Hercules muttered as he shoved the door closed right in Lafayette’s face. 

“Rude.” Lafayette kicked the dirt, frustrated. They hated secrets, having lived one for so long. 

Hercules closed the curtains and resumed his work. He had little time left, but everything had to be perfect. As he made his last minute touches, he wondered how long Lafayette would last outside. He bet five minutes. He was wrong. 

Lafayette couldn’t take being shoved around and hidden away by his boyfriend. If they didn’t find out what was going on, they were going to scream. Just then, they had a brilliant idea. 

A long, high-pitched yell emitted from outside the window of the cabin. Hercules ran across the room and threw back the drapes.

“What are you doing?” He cried. Campers were beginning to stir and many were shooting quizzical looks at Lafayette, some even motioning to see what the matter was. 

Lafayette motioned that they couldn’t hear him and continued screaming. Hercules would have to let them know what he was doing now, if not the whole camp. 

Hercules’s eyes darted around as campers started to exit their cabin, and gave Lafayette a final pleading look (to which they turned up their nose) and finally gave in. 

“Okay, okay! I’ll talk! But you have to stop screaming. Please.” Hercules begged and Lafayette’s wails immediately ceased. 

“Everything?” Lafayette narrowed their eyes, showing Hercules that they were all business. 

“Everything baby. I promise.” It was all for them anyways! 

Lafayette looked at Hercules expectantly, who led them inside. 

“Turn on the lights.” They demanded. 

“Please, just let me tell you first what it is you’re about to see.” Hercules’s voice was full of hope, and Lafayette knew they had to trust them. 

Lafayette nodded, but then realize Hercules couldn’t see them in the dark. “Yes. Okay, go.” 

Hercules breathed a sigh of relief and he launched into his slightly-rehearsed explanation. 

“I love you so much Laf, and I still feel bad about what happened. I know this doesn’t make up for my ignorance, but I made you something. I hope you like it.” Hercules flipped on the lights with a wary smile and focused his eyes on Lafayette, but Lafayette’s attention was elsewhere.

They couldn’t believe their eyes. This is not what Lafayette had imagined Hercules had been doing. They didn’t know what they thought, but this definitely wasn’t it. Their eyes danced across the room, glittering with wonder and gratitude. 

“You made this? For me?” Lafayette couldn’t believe anyone would do all of this, just for them. 

“Do you like it?” Hercules misread the surprise on Lafayette’s face and felt worried. Maybe it was too much, or not enough? It was stupid, they didn’t like it, and once again, Hercules had acted like an idiot. 

“Like doesn’t express how I feel about this Hercules.” Lafayette shook their head and Hercules hung his in shame.

“I’m fucking obsessed with it! This is the coolest shit anyone has ever done for me!” Lafayette attacked Hercules in a chaotic hug and he was taken aback. Laf did not take cursing lightly, they must truly like it. Hercules wrapped his arms around Lafayette, but they soon retreated to pick up the gift and further examine it. 

Hercules had created a lavish garment for Lafayette, a lavender dress that barely brushed the floor, flowy and silky, it was the most elegant thing they had ever seen. 

“I’m glad you like it!” Hercules had almost fallen over by the force of Lafayette’s hug and felt incredibly relieved. 

“You. Are. The. Best.” Lafayette pressed their forehead against Hercules’s to assure them. They knew of Hercules’s insecurities, thanks to having been his friend for such a long time, and hoped to ease them. 

“So you're not mad anymore?” Hercules whispered, unsure. 

“Babe, I can’t stay mad at you, and maybe I overreacted a little bit. We all make mistakes, and I was letting my own fear get in the way. Now come here!” Lafayette rubbed their nose against Hercules, who finally broke into a grin and threw their love onto the bed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ready?”

“Ready.” 

Both boys, with hands clasped, waded into the icy water, slowly but surely, as if they had all the time in the world. Stars lit the sky and Alexander realized he didn’t need to dream of flying away with John anymore, he was here, leading Alex further into the pool of darkness.   
John peeled off his wet shirt and threw it onto the shore, he felt safe around Alexander and wasn’t afraid of his scars anymore. They showed his strength and resilience, he’d been through so much. He deserved this. He deserved this beautiful boy who makes him feel warm inside. 

“It’s getting deep.” Alexander was a little wary, he wasn’t the best swimmer.

“You’re safe with me.” John said with sincerity, and Alexander believed it. 

Finally, they stopped in the middle of the lake, wading in the water. Alexander briefly let go of John’s hand to throw his shirt away, which carelessly sunk away. It felt right, for the moment. John took this as affirmation to pull the boy closer. Alexander’s breath hitched as he was pulled onto John’s knees. John thought about backing away when he laid his eyes on Alex’s incredulous look, but Alexander soon came to his senses. This is all he had wanted since he first met John; strong, beautiful John. He wrapped his legs around Alexander’s torso, and it was John’s turn to be surprised. 

“Alexander.” He breathed a slight whisper.

“My John.” Alexander replied before pressing his soft, wet lips to John’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you thank you every single person who has read this fic, and those who left sweet comments, you all are the reason I kept writing! i hope you enjoyed this, and thank you again!


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